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TRAINING  AND  EDUCATION 
IN  THE  INDUSTRY 

AS  A   MEANS  OF 

VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 

Being  a  Study  of  the   Training  and  Education 
"    Departments  of  Various  Industrial  Corporations 


JOHN  VAN  LIEW /MORRIS,  A.B.  (Harvard), 
A.M.,  Pii.JCMColumbia) 


Submitted  in  partial  fulfillment  of  the  requirements  for  the  degree  of 

Doctor  of  Philosophy,  in  the  Faculty  of  Education,  Columbia 

University,  September  1,  1920,  New  York  City. 


PUBLISHED  AS  ''EMPLOYEE  TRAINING" 

BY 

McGRAW-HILL   BOOK   COMPANY 

NEW    YORK    CITY 


EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 


A  STUDY  OF  EDUCATION  AND 
TRAINING  DEPARTMENTS  IN 
VARIOUS  CORPORATIONS 


BY    ,, 
JOHN  VAN  LIEW  MORRIS,  Ph.D. 


FIRST  EDITION 


McGRAW-HILL  BOOK   COMPANY,  INC. 

NEW  YORK:  370  SEVENTH  AVENUE 

LONDON:  6  &  8  BOUVERIE  ST.,  E,  C,  4 

1921 


Copyright  1921,  by  the 
McGRAW-HILL  BOOK  COMPANY,  INC. 


73 

EXCHANOK 


PREFACE 

THE  author  is  glad  of  this  opportunity  to  express  his 
appreciation  for  the  cooperation  and  courtesy  of  all 
connected  with  the  training  and  education  depart- 
ments described  in  this  book  who  have  assisted  him  in 
any  way  in  collecting  the  material.  He  feels  himself 
under  particular  obligations  to  Mr.  I.  B.  Shoup  of  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Co.,  Mr. 
Charles  Trippe  of  the  General  Electric  Co.,  Mr.  J.  W. 
Dietz  of  the  Western  Electric  Co.,  Mr.  A.  C.  Horrocks 
of  the  Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber  Co.,  Mr.  F.  E.  Searles 
of  the  Ford  Motor  Co.,  Mr.  John  McLeod  of  the  Car- 
negie Steel  Co.,  Mr.  F.  W.  Pease  of  the  Bethlehem 
Shipbuilding  Corporation,  Mr.  F.  W.  Thomas  of  the 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  F6  Railroad,  Mr.  E.  E. 
Sheldon  of  R.  R.  Donnelly  &  Sons  Co.,  Mr.  Harry 
Tukey  of  the  Submarine  Boat  Corporation,  Mr.  L.  L. 
Park  of  the  American  Locomotive  Co.,  Mr.  E.  E. 
Fowler  of  the  Pratt  &  Whitney  Co.,  Mr.  Franklin  T. 
Jones  of  the  Warner  &  Swasey  Co.,  Mr.  J.  B.  Chalmers 
of  the  Yale  &  Towne  Mfg.  Co.,  and  Mr.  Frank  Lott 
of  the  Sperry  Gyroscope  Co.  He  also  feels  under  very 
deep  obligations  to  Mr.  Charles  R.  Allen,  formerly  with 
the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation. 

Finally  no  mere  word  here  can  pay  the  tribute  which 
the  author  owes  to  Professors  David  Snedden  and  Ar- 
thur Dean,  who  have  been  his  constant  inspiration  and 
counsellors  throughout  the  shaping  and  growth  of  the 
book. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

The  Nature  of  the  Study xiii 

Definitions xiv 

Apprentice,  Apprenticeship  Training,  Special  Training, 
Intensive  and  Part-time  Training,  Initial  Special  Training, 
Upgrading  and  Promotion  Training,  Special  Training  Depart- 
ment, Floor  Training,  Trade  Teaching  Formula,  Part-time 
Industrial  School,  Cooperative  Instruction. 

The  Portion  of  Industry  Investigated xviii 

Confined  to  manufacture.      Mainly  of  the  larger  corpora- 
tions.   Does  not  cover  the  building  trades  or  independent 
service  employments.     Similarity  to  the  larger  commercial  cor- 
porations. 

Method  of  the  Study xx 

Descriptive  of  education  and  training  activities  of  thirty-five 
corporations,  based  on  personal  visits  and  information  supplied 
by  education  and  training  executives. 

The  Grouping  of  the  Descriptive  Studies • xxi 

SECTION  I 

COMPREHENSIVE    PROGRAMS   FOR  APPRENTICESHIP 
AND  SPECIAL  TRAINING 

CHAPTER  I 

PROGRAMS  IN  THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY 1 

No.  1. — Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company 2 

Special  Training,  Apprenticeship,  Technical  Night  school, 
Americanization,  Student  Engineer  Training,  Organization 
for  Training. 

No.  2. — General  Electric  Company,  Schenectady  Plant 17 

Apprenticeship,  Engineer  Training  in  the  Testing  Depart- 
ment, Foreman  Training,  Intensive  Training,  Instructor 
Training,  Americanization. 

vii 


viii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

No.  3. — General  Electric  Company,  West  Lynn  Plant 27 

The  Apprentice  Department,  Co-operative  Arrangement  for 
Engineering  Students,  Special  Training,  English  and  Natural- 
ization Classes. 

No.  4. — Western  Electric  Company 37 

Training  of  Office  Boys,  of ,  Apprentices,  Special  Training 
for  High  School  Graduates,  Training  Telephone  Installers, 
Machine  Operators,  College  Men,  Voluntary  Evening  Classes, 
Administration  of  the  Educational  Activities. 

CHAPTER  II 

PROGRAMS  IN  THE  RUBBER  AND  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES 53 

No.  5. — Goodyear  Tire  and  Rubber  Company 54 

The  Flying  Squadrons,  Apprentice  Training,  The  Industrial 
University. 

No.  6. — Ford  Motor  Company 63 

Apprentice  School,  Trade  School,  Technical  Institute,  Ser- 
vice School,  English  Classes. 

No.  7. — Packard  Motor  Car  Company 70 

Apprentice  Training,  Technical  Graduates'  Courses,  Truck 
Sales  School. 

CHAPTER  III 

SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS 75 

No.  8. — The  Norton  Company 75 

Intensive  Training  for  Machine  Operatives,  Grinding  Course, 
Special  Half-time  Mechanical  Course. 

No.  9— Watervliet  Arsenal 83 

Apprentice  Training,  Evening  Improvement  and  Trade  Exten- 
sion Classes,  Vestibule  School,  Foreman  Training. 

No.  10. — Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Company 89 

Apprenticeship,  Special  Training,  Training  for  Minor  Execu- 
tives, Foreman  Training  Noon  Hour  and  After-work  Classes, 
The  Educational  Organization  Plan. 

No.  11. — Mergenthaler  Linotype  Company 98 

Apprenticeship,  Linotype  School  for  Operators,  School  for 
Engineers  and  Department  Heads,  Trade  Extension  Night 
Classes,  Intensive  Training  School,  Foreman  Training. 

No.  12. — The  Carnegie  Steel  Company 104 

Salesmen's  School,  the  Works  Schools,  Apprentice  School, 
Night  School. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE 

No.  13. — National  Cash  Register  Company Ill 

Co-operative  Apprenticeship,  Upgrading  Courses,  Health  and 
Safety  Education,  Evening  and  Noon  Hour  Instruction. 

SECTION  II 

PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  APPRENTICESHIP 
CHAPTER  IV 

TRADITIONAL  APPRENTICESHIP  MODERNIZED 123 

No.  14.— R.  Hoe  &  Company 124 

No.  15.— Pratt  &  Whitney  Company 129 

No.  16. — Brown  &  Sharpe  Manufacturing  Company 131 

No.  17. — Warner  &  Swasey  Company 137 

No.  18. — Yale  &  Towne  Manufacturing  Company 138 

CHAPTER  V 

SOME  SMALL  APPRENTICESHIP  DEPARTMENTS 143 

No.  19. — Westinghouse  Air  Brake  Company 143 

No.  20. — Weston  Electric  Instrument  Company 150 

No.  21. — De  la  Vergne  Machine  Company 152 

No.  22. — Hyatt  Roller  Bearings  Division,  General  Motors  Cor- 
poration    155 

CHAPTER  VI 

APPRENTICESHIP  IN  SHIPBUILDING 157 

No.  23. — Fore  River  Plant,  Bethlehem  Shipbuilding  Corporation.  158 

No.  24.— United  States  Navy  Yard  of  Brooklyn 163 

CHAPTER  VII 

PROGRAMS  IN  RAILROAD  SHOPS  AND  LOCOMOTIVE  WORKS 167 

No.  25.— Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railroad  System 167 

No.  26. — American  Locomotive  Company 174 

CHAPTER  VIII 

AN  APPRENTICE  PROGRAM  IN  THE  PRINTING  INDUSTRY 176 

No.  27.— R.  R.  Donnelly  &  Sons  Company 176 


X  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

SECTION  III 

PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  SPECIAL  TRAINING 
CHAPTER  IX 

PAGE 

No.  28. — The  Submarine  Boat  Corporation 183 

Intensive  Training,  Foreman  Training,  Instructor  Training. 

No.  29. — Dennison  Manufacturing  Company 191 

No.  30.— Gisholt  Machine  Company 194 

Upgrading  School  for  Customer's  Operatives. 

No.  31.— J.  &  T.  Cousins  Company 196 

No.  32. — The  Sperry  Gyroscope  Company 199 

Vestibule  School,  Upgrading  School,  School  on  Company's 

Product. 
No.  33. — The  United  Shoe  Machinery  Company 201 

Co-operative  Industrial  School,  Intensive  Training. 

SECTION  IV 

PROGRAMS  OF  PRIMARILY  TECHNICAL 
INSTRUCTION 

CHAPTER  X 

No.  34. — Habirshaw  Electric  Cable  Company 207 

Three  Year  Electrical  Course. 
No.  35. — Shepard  Electric  Crane  Company 209 

Technical  Night  School. 

SECTION  V 
CHAPTER  XI 

APPRENTICE  TRAINING 211 

Present  Scope.  Trades  Affected.  Why  Apprenticeship. 
Conditions  for  Good  Apprentice  Training.  Apprentice 
School.  On  Company  or  Student's  Time.  Corporation 
School  vs.  Public  Part-time  School.  The  School  in  the 
Plants.  Outside  in  a  Public  School.  Indentures.  Age  Period 
of  Apprenticeship  and  Normal  Length  of  Service.  Rates  of 
Pay  and  Bonuses.  Deposits.  Certificates  of  Apprenticeship. 
School  Substitutes  for  Apprenticeship— Evening,  Part-time, 
and  All-day  Trade  School.  The  Co-operative  High  School. 
The  Endowed  Trade  School  and  the  Technical  High  School. 
Correspondence  Schools. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xi 

CHAPTER  XII 

TAOE 

TRAINING  OF  TECHNICAL  MEN  IN  THE  INDUSTRY 245 

(1)  Provision  of  Both  Technical  Instruction  and  Practice. 
The    Corporation    Technical    Night   School.     Relation    to 
Trade  Apprenticeship. 

(2)  Co-operative  Employment  of  Engineering  Students  in 
Industry. 

(3)  Employment  of  Technical  College  Graduates  under  Super- 
vision for  Experience  and  Adjustment  to  Positions  in  the 
Corporation's  Personnel.     Instruction  on  a  Non-productive 
Basis.    Sales  Training.     General  Conclusion. 

CHAPTER  XIII 

SPECIAL  TRAINING 264 

Training  by  Foremen.  Floor  Training.  Vestibule  Training. 
Upgrading  or  Promotion  Training,  on  the  Floor  and  in  Special 
Shops.  Supervisory  Training,  brief  course,  extended  course, 
and  training  for  promotion  to  foremanship.  School  Sub- 
stitutes in  Special  Training  Fields. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

TECHNICAL  AND  GENERAL  INSTRUCTION  FOR  EMPLOYEE  IMPROVE- 
MENT   281 

(1)  English  and  Civic  Instruction.     The  Negro  in  Northern 
Industry. 

(2)  Health  and  Accident  Prevention  Instruction. 

(3)  Evening  Schools. 

CHAPTER  XV 

CONCLUSIONS 290 

The  Corporation  as  a  Vocational  Unit.     Size  of  a  Plant  to 

Warrant  its  Organizing  as  an  Educational  Unit.     With  a 

Distinct  Education  and  Training  Department. 

The  Organization  of  the  Training  and  Education  Department. 

The  Extension  of  the  Training  Idea. 

An  Analysis  of  the  Incidence  of  the  Cost  of  Education  and 

Training. 

SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY 300 

INDEX  . .  .  307 


INTRODUCTION 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  STUDY 

THIS  study  has  been  undertaken  in  order  to  dis- 
cover to  what  extent  manufacturing  industry  can  be 
relied  upon  to  train  its  own  workers.  With  the  im- 
mense development  of  manufacture  in  America  dur- 
ing recent  years  industrial  executives  have  been  more 
and  more  concerned  over  the  fact  that  apprenticeship 
had  pretty  much  broken  down  and  the  prevailing 
high  specialization  was  producing  a  dearth  of  the  old- 
time  mechanics  for  maintenance  work  and  as  a  re- 
serve force  from  which  foremen  could  be  recruited. 
Two  solutions  of  the  problem  were  proposed — one,  the 
revival  of  apprenticeship;  the  other,  the  establish- 
ment of  vocational  schools. 

This  investigation  has  been  mainly  an  inquiry  into 
the  programs  and  organization  machinery  being  util- 
ized in  carrying  out  the  first  solution,  which  has  of 
late  expanded  into  a  much  more  comprehensive  pro- 
gram than  of  apprenticeship  alone.  Intensive  train- 
ing for  various  productive  activities,  foremen  training 
and  for  salesmen,  and  minor  executives  are  designa- 
tions of  some  of  the  newer  types.  In  addition  some 
corporations  extend  their  opportunities  for  employee 
improvement  from  technical  classes  for  members  of 

xiii 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

the  engineering  staff  down  to  classes  in  English  and 
citizenship  for  alien  laborers. 

It  is  evident  that  whatever  contributions  industry 
can  and  does  make  toward  training  its  own  workers 
lessens  by  that  much  the  task  imposed  upon  the  public 
school  system.  It  does  not,  however,  preclude  the 
possibility  that  public  education  can  make  extremely 
fruitful  contributions  to  industrial  education  which 
raises  problems  as  to  efficient  synthesization  of  trade 
and  technical  schools  with  the  further  training  which 
may  advantageously  be  provided  after  work  has  com- 
menced. 

This  study  should  then  be  of  interest  to  the  educa- 
tor as  throwing  some  light  on  industry's  own  solution 
of  its  training  problems  and  it  is  hoped  equally  inter- 
esting to  manufacturers  as  suggesting  programs  of 
education  and  training  recommended  by  the  previous 
trial  of  others. 


DEFINITIONS 

It  has  seemed  desirable  at  the  outset  to  draw  up 
some  definitions  of  terms  current  in  this  field  and 
employed  in  this  study  as  there  seems  a  lack  of  uni- 
form practice  and  occasionally  a  misunderstanding 
may  arise  from  confusion  of  designation. 
,  Apprentice. — The  term  "  apprentice  "  shall  mean 
any  minor,  sixteen  years  of  age  or  over,  who  shall 
enter  into  any  contract  of  service,  express  or  implied, 
whereby  he  is  to  receive  from  or  through  his  em- 
ployer, in  consideration  for  his  services  in  whole  or  in 
part,  instruction  in  any  trade,  craft,  or  business.  (Sec- 
tion 2377,  Statutes  of  1917,  Wisconsin.) 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

Apprenticeship  Training. — As  considered  in  this 
study  apprenticeship  training  is  based  on  the  defini- 
tion above  of  apprentice,  in  which  the  following  two 
elements  are  held  to  be  indispensable:  (1)  It  will  be 
applied  only  to  the  acquisition  through  observation 
and  practice  under  skilled  direction  and  productive 
conditions  with  related  instruction  of  a  recognized 
trade  or  craft.  (2)  The  experience  constituting  the 
skill  elements  with  the  related  technical  knowledge 
must  be  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  require  for  then* 
acquisition  practice  by  the  apprentice  during  a  period 
of  several  years  (usually  three  or  four)  commenced 
previous  to  his  attaining  his  majority. 

This  definition  does  not  recognize  as  coming  under 
its  scope  such  relationships  as  of  a  fireman  to  a  loc^ 
motive  engineer  where  the  former  as  an  adult  worker 
is  supposed  in  course  of  time  largely  by  observation 
to  learn  the  duties  of  the  latter.  Neither  does  it  in- 
clude the  endeavor  to  teach  by  close  supervision  dur- 
ing a  period  of  several  weeks  or  months  only  the  same 
trades  as  taught  commonly  by  apprenticeship.  Such 
instruction  should  be  recognized  as  intensive  training 
which  is  defined  later. 

Apprenticeship  will  be  considered  as  formal  or  in- 
formal according  to  presence  or  absence  of  a  legally 
binding  indenture  or  agreement  stating  years  of  work 
required  for  its  completion,  variety  of  experience 
offered,  amount  of  supplementary  instruction,  basis 
of  remuneration,  etc.,  executed  between  the  corpora- 
tion's representative  on  the  one  hand  and  the  minor 
and  his  parent  on  the  other. 

Special  Training.— Definite  instruction  for  a  spe- 
cific operation  or  specialized  trade  under  an  instructor 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

especially  chosen  and  trained  for  that  teaching  will 
be  designated  as  special  training. 

It  is  distinguished  from  apprenticeship  in  duration 
of  instruction  as  special  training  ordinarily  extends 
through  a  period  of  a  few  days  to  several  months  only. 
Also  while  apprenticeship  training  is  rightly  appli- 
cable to  trade  or  craft  teaching  of  minors  only,  special 
training  is  considered  as  alike  applicable  to  the  in- 
struction of  adults  as  well  as  minors.  Elements  in 
the  instruction  of  apprentices  may,  however,  be  con- 
sidered as  special  training,  e.g.,  instruction  in  the 
operation  of  a  lathe  to  a  machinist  apprentice. 

Intensive  and  Part-time  Training. — Special  train- 
ng  is  either  intensive  or  part-time  depending  upon 
whether  the  learner  spends  his  entire  working  time  or 
a  fixed  part  of  it  in  acquiring  the  skills  and  knowledge 
.mbraced.  It  is  productive  training  when  the  regular 
saleable  products  of  the  operations  involved  are  pro- 
duced. Otherwise  it  is  exercise  training. 

Initial  Special  Training. — That  given  to  a  recruit 
inexperienced  in  the  type  of  work  involved  will  be 
called  initial  training.  Ordinarily  it  is  intensive  train- 
ing. 

Upgrading  and  Promotion  Training. — That  given 
to  an  employee  in  order  to  render  him  capable  of  per- 
forming more  difficult  or  more  remunerative  work 
will  be  called  upgrading.  When  it  leads  to  an  occu- 
pation with  a  new  designation  it  should  be  considered 
as  promotion  training.  When  upgrading  training  is 
given  to  one  already  employed  at  a  trade  it  may  be 
spoken  of  as  trade  extension  training. 

Special  Training  Department. — A  department  dis- 
tinct from  regular  production  but  with  similar  equip- 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

ment,  used  in  providing  practice  for  apprentices  or 
those  in  initial  or  upgrading  training  will  be  desig- 
nated as  a  special  training  department.  When  used 
for  initial  training  exclusively  it  is  frequently  called  a 
vestibule  school. 

Floor  Training.  —  When  not  in  a  separate  depart- 
ment, training,  either  initial  or  upgrading,  is  called 
floor  training  or  training  "  on  the  job." 

Trade  Teaching  Formula.  —  Trade  teaching  content 
is  considered  as  defined  by  the  formula,  * 

E  =  M  +  T    I    in  which 


E  represents  the  equipment,  skill,  and  knowledge 
required  for  efficient  service  in  the  trade  to  be  taught. 

M  represents  the  manipulative  skill  required  either 
with  tools  or  in  the  control  of  machines. 

T  represents  knowledge  of  the  trade  technical  con- 
tent of  the  particular  occupation  in  question. 

I  represents  knowledge  of  the  general  trade  content 
which  can  be  shown  to  function  directly  in  industrial 
efficiency. 

Supplementary  or  related  subjects  instruction  will 
include  such  portions  of  (T  +  I)  as  can  be  more  con- 
veniently given  in  a  classroom  than  in  a  training 
department  or  on  the  production  floor.  When  given 
at  the  expense  of  and  by  the  company  involved,  the 
school  which  provides  such  instruction  will  be  called 
a  corporation  school.  When  such  a  school  is  for  ap- 
prentices only,  it  will  be  designated  as  an  apprentice 
school. 

Part-time  Industrial  School.  —  When  the  school  for 
such  supplementary  instruction  is  provided  during 

*  Bulletin  No.  52,  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education,  p.  7. 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

working  hours  and  by  the  public  school  authorities, 
it  is  called  a  part-time  industrial  school.  Especially 
when  this  school  is  conducted  in  the  plant,  there  is  in 
some  places  a  tendency  to  call  it  a  co-operative  part- 
time  schoolj  but  it  is  believed  desirable  to  keep  the 
term  co-operative  for  the  alternate-school-and-shop 
school  defined  later.  If,  however,  the  instruction  is 
not  supplementary,  that  is,  if  it  bears  no  definite  re- 
lation to  the  trade  of  the  employees  concerned,  but  is 
intended  to  add  to  their  general  education,  the  pro- 
vision will  be  called  a  continuation  school. 

Co-operative  Instruction. — That  instruction  pro- 
vided where  students  alternate  for  equal  periods  be- 
tween work  in  the  industry  and  attendance  at  a  sepa- 
rate school  under  public  or  semi-public  auspices  is 
considered  as  co-operative.  It  is  commonly  arranged 
by  students  being  employed  in  pairs,  one  member  of 
the  pair  working  while  his  fellow  member  attends 
school.  The  following  period  the  two  exchange 
places,  the  one  who  has  been  working  now  going  to 
school  and  the  other  going  on  with  the  interrupted 
work.  The  length  of  these  alternating  periods  varies 
throughout  the  country  from  a  half-day  or  a  whole 
day  in  some  places  up  to  a  week,  a  fortnight,  or  a 
term  of  twelve  weeks  in  others.  This  type,  it  is  be- 
lieved, should  be  called  a  co-operative  full-time  school, 
if  the  part-time  industrial  school  already  defined  is 
designated  a  co-operative  part-time  school. 

THE  PORTION  OF  INDUSTRY  INVESTIGATED 

This  study  is  in  no  sense  a  complete  survey,  being 
strictly  confined  to  manufacture  and  the  rather 
closely  allied  maintenance  employments  of  the  rail- 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

road  shops  and  with  rather  more  attention  paid  to 
that  of  the  steel  products  as  requiring  all  grades  and 
types  of  employees;  executives,  engineers,  mechanics, 
salesmen,  clerks,  semi-skilled  operatives,  and  un- 
skilled labor. 

Furthermore,  the  study  is,  in  the  main,  of  the  larger 
corporations.  Plants  were  investigated  with  the 
number  of  employees  varying  from  five  hundred 
working  people  to  fifty  thousand.  It  is  recognized 
that  industries  with  less  than  this  smaller  number  of 
employees  may  require  wholly  different  solutions  to 
their  training  problems,  such  as  larger  assistance 
from  the  public  school  system  instead  of  the  educa- 
tional department  inside  the  plant  here  advocated. 
It  is  believed  that  there  is,  however,  one  like  element 
in  preparation  for  employment,  whether  in  a  large  or 
small  plant,  namely,  that  the  specific  training  with 
the  actual  tools  and  surroundings  for  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  each  job,  trade,  or  office  position 
as  the  final  vocational  training  for  such  employment, 
in  a  very  large  number  of  cases  can  advantageously 
be  given  systematically. 

This  study  also  does  not  touch  upon  the  building 
trades  and  the  extremely  varied  occupations  of  our 
cities  which  may  be  grouped  as  independent  service 
employments,  such  as  that  of  automechanics.  These, 
it  should  be  recognized,  employ  a  considerable  number 
of  skilled  men.  While  the  problems  involved  have 
not  been  studied  exhaustively,  it  is  believed  that  a 
much  further  development  of  the  public  vocational 
schools,  trade  preparatory  (in  some  cases  on  a  co- 
operative basis),  part-time,  and  evening  trade  exten- 
sion, are  here  the  normal  solutions. 


xx  INTRODUCTION 

The  public  service  corporations;  telephone,  power, 
lighting,  street  railways,  etc.,  and  in  some  cities  the 
municipal  services,  such  as  the  police,  fire  protection, 
and  street  cleaning,  it  should  be  noted,  have  in  in- 
creasing numbers  their  own  highly  developed  training 
departments. 

A  similar  situation  holds  as  regards  the  larger  com- 
mercial establishments,  such  as  the  great  metropolitan 
banks  and  the  department  stores.  Here,  however, 
there  seems  a  greater  tendency  to  utilize  public  edu- 
cation facilities,  such  as  continuation  schools  and 
university  extension  courses,  as  the  commercial  field 
seems  to  require  a  more  extended  general  education 
than  does  manufacturing  industry. 

The  generalization,  then,  from  which  this  study 
proceeds  is  that  the  larger  corporations  differentiate 
from  the  smaller  manufacturing  units  and  the  inde- 
pendent artisans  in  providing  an  economical  unit  for 
educational  purposes.  Certain  plants  devoted  to 
manufacture  have  been  studied  as  regards  their  train- 
ing and  educational  facilities  and  the  data  obtained 
are  the  basis  for  arriving  at  some  conclusions  which 
form  the  final  part  of  the  study. 

METHOD  OF  STUDY 

The  method  of  the  study  has  been  to  gain  as  much 
first  hand  information  as  possible.  Altogether  there 
are  descriptions  of  the  education  and  training  depart- 
ments of  thirty-five  different  plants.  In  all  except 
two  instances  the  plants  were  personally  visited  by 
the  author,  some  study  was  made  of  their  products 
relative  to  the  usefulness  of  training  and  apprentice- 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

ship,  and  where  possible  the  educational  work  was 
seen  in  actual  operation.  The  house  organs  descrip- 
tive of  the  training  facilities  were  also  consulted  as 
well  as  the  announcements  of  the  apprenticeship  de- 
partment whenever  such  were  published.  In  most 
instances  the  plant  was  revisited  after  a  first  draft 
had  been  made  of  the  study  and  any  misconceptions, 
as  far  as  possible,  eradicated.  Also  the  description 
has  been  submitted  to  the  training  executive  before 
final  writing. 

It  is  recognized  that,  depending  so  largely  on  the 
statements  of  those  interested  in  making  a  good  show- 
ing, some  training  departments  may  have  been  some- 
what too  favorably  depicted.  It  is  not  believed,  how- 
ever, that  this  seriously  detracts  from  the  value  of 
the  study  as  determining  the  possible  contributions 
of  this  type  of  educational  activity  to  the  whole 
problem  of  vocational  education. 

THE  GROUPING  OF  THE  DESCRIPTIVE  STUDIES 

Forty  plants  were  visited  and  their  training  and 
education  departments  were  studied  without  any 
previously  established  routine  of  procedure.  As  has 
been  stated  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  make  this 
study  exhaustive.  Wherever  special  training  or 
apprenticeship  has  been  found  which  seemed  to  merit 
study,  as  much  has  been  learned  as  possible  of  its 
educational  program  and  facilities.  Each  of  these 
studies  was  then  written  up  as  a  distinct  unit  as  it 
appears  in  the  first  four  sections. 

In  compilation  the  best  classification  seemed  to  be 
into  these  four  sections,  as  follows: 


xxii  INTRODUCTION 

I.  Comprehensive  Programs  for  Apprenticeship  and  Special 

Training. 
II.  Programs  Emphasizing  Apprenticeship. 

III.  Programs  Emphasizing  Special  Training. 

IV.  Special  Programs  of  Primarily  Technical  Instruction. 

Under  Comprehensive  Programs  are  included  those 
of  such  corporations  as  have  both  apprenticeship  and 
special  training.  Among  these  were  those  of  four 
plants  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  electrical  equip- 
ment, which  seemed,  on  the  whole,  the  most  developed 
and  standardized  of  all  the  plants  visited  and  they 
are,  accordingly  grouped  together  to  constitute  the 
first  chapter.  The  second  chapter  deals  with  three 
programs  in  the  rubber  and  automobile  industries. 
The  six  remaining  comprehensive  programs  found  in 
plants  of  extremely  varied  nature  constitute  the 
third  chapter. 

The  second  section  of  programs  for  apprenticeship 
is  broken  up  into  five  chapters,  each  of  which  empha- 
sizes distinct  solutions  of  problems  of  apprenticeship 
training.  In  the  first  group  in  Chapter  IV  is  described 
the  apprenticeship  which  has  become  a  tradition  in 
five  long-established  manufacturing  plants,  but  which 
has  been  modernized  during  recent  years.  The 
fourth  chapter  is  devoted  to  four  departments  which 
seem  to  bring  out  the  value  and  practicability  of 
even  small  apprentice  training  departments.  Their 
plans  are  recommended  for  study  to  those  who,  from 
size  of  plant,  will  find  it  impossible  to  train  a  large 
number  of  apprentices  and  yet  wish  to  build  their 
permanent  personnel  by  this  means. 

The  fifth  chapter  is  of  apprenticeship  in  the  ship- 
building industry.  Here  are  described  two  appren- 
ticeship systems,  one  in  a  private  plant  with  close 


INTRODUCTION  xxiii 

correlation  between  production  training  and  appren- 
tice school,  the  other  in  a  navy  yard  with  no  attempt 
at  thus  relating  the  two  parts  of  the  instruction. 

The  next  chapter  is  of  the  apprenticeship  depart- 
ments in  locomotive  and  railroad  shops  which  have 
points  of  similarity,  even  though  in  the  locomotive 
works  training  for  production  is  primarily  the  prob- 
lem, while  in  the  railroad  shops  it  is  that  of  mainte- 
nance. 

The  concluding  chapter  of  this  section  is  a  study  of 
apprenticeship  in  the  printing  industry,  which  is 
unique  in  its  insistence  on  a  seven-year  program.  It 
is,  however,  recommended  to  publishers  as  worthy 
of  perusal,  since  in  this  industry  apprenticeship,  even 
though  informal,  still  so  generally  persists. 

The  third  section  emphasizing  special  training  has 
not  been  subdivided  into  chapters,  as  each  study 
seemed  unique. 

The  final  section  and  chapter  is  of  two  brief  pro- 
grams of  technical  training,  both  planned  with  the 
avowed  purpose  of  developing  foremen  and  improved 
workmen  under  conditions  that  seemed  to  warrant 
emphasis  on  the  technical  phases  of  instruction. 

In  Section  V  an  attempt  at  comparison  and  evalua- 
tion of  the  various  programs  is  made  under  the  general 
types  of  differentiation:  Apprenticeship,  Technical 
Training,  Initial  Training  and  Upgrading,  Foreman 
Training,  and  General  Employee  Improvement.  This 
is  followed  by  a  discussion  of  general  problems  of  ad- 
ministration and,  as  a  final  chapter,  the  promotion 
and  regulation  of  such  educational  facilities  by  the 
state. 


EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 


SECTION  I 

COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS  FOR  APPREN- 
TICESHIP AND  SPECIAL  TRAINING 


CHAPTER  I 

PROGRAMS  IN  THE  ELECTRICAL 
MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY 

THE  reading  of  the  four  studies  embraced  in  this 
chapter  will  convince  one  that  this  industry  certainly 
as  far  as  these  companies  are  concerned  is  highly 
organized  for  training  purposes.  Just  why  it  should 
thus  be  in  the  lead  is  a  matter  for  interesting  specu- 
lation. Perhaps  it  is  due  to  the  absorption  into  its 
executive  personnel  in  each  case  for  the  invention  and 
development  of  its  products  of  a  large  number  of 
engineers,  some  of  whom  have  come  to  realize  that 
the  high  development  of  the  human  element  in  pro- 
duction is  as  essential  to  efficiency  as  the  perfection 
of  the  machinery  involved. 

A  close  study  will  show  considerable  difference  of 


2.     .  . ...  ^....EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

procedure.  The  Western  Electric  Company,  for  ex- 
ample, has  an  educational  director  in  the  central 
executive  offices  of  the  company  to  co-ordinate  edu- 
cation and  training  throughout  its  large  and  widely 
scattered  organization.  On  the  other  hand  the  other 
companies  seem  to  allow  each  plant  to  be  a  law  unto 
itself,  there  being  apparently  only  a  friendly  exchange 
of  ideas  between  plants.  All  companies  have  de- 
veloped apprenticeship  to  a  high  degree  but  adjusted 
to  their  local  needs  as  of  course  it  should  be.  There 
is  thus  considerable  variation  in  method. 

Special  training  as  will  be  found  throughout  these 
studies  is  extremely  varied.  That  for  office  workers, 
or  technical  positions,  for  foreman,  in  the  vestibule 
school  and  to  some  extent  for  upgrading  is  to  be  found 
in  the  various  systems.  Evening  trade  extension 
along  very  different  lines  is  also  remarkably  well  de- 
veloped by  the  Westinghouse  and  Western  Electric 
Companies.  Finally  programs  for  teaching  English 
and  to  encourage  the  securing  of  citizenship  are  being 
utilized  by  these  loimoanies. 

No.  1 

WESTINGHOUSE  ELECTRIC  AND  MANUFACTURING  Co., 
EAST  PITTSBURGH,  PA. 

The  Westinghouse  Company  is  one  of  the  great 
manufacturing  companies  of  the  world.  In  the  East 
Pittsburgh  works  alone  eighteen  to  twenty  thousand 
people  are  employed.  Under  the  heading  "  Some 
Westinghouse  Products "  some  thirty-four  articles 
are  mentioned  including  such  products  as  Automobile 
Starting  and  Lighting  Systems,  Circuit  Breakers, 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY         3 

Condensers,  Fuses,  Gas  Engines,  Generators,  Heat- 
ing Devices,  Lightning  Arresters,  Electric  Lamps, 
Locomotives,  Meters,  Ranges,  Rectifiers,  Rotary 
Converters,  Transformers,  and  Turbines.  While  this 
is  only  a  partial  list,  a  glance  will  show  that  not  alone 
skill  but  an  immense  amount  of  initiating  intelli- 
gence must  be  constantly  introduced  in  inventing 
and  improving  both  the  products  and  also  their 
means  of  production.  An  organization  consisting  of 
designing  and  organizing  engineers  with  a  supply  of 
labor  of  specialized  efficiency  is  not  alone  sufficient. 
To  these  two  important  groups  there  needs  to  be  added 
the  third  type  of  workman,  not  of  the  highly  technical 
training  requisite  in  the  engineer,  but  with  the  prac- 
tical all-around  efficiency  that  can  attack  a  problem 
of  machine  control  with  some  expectancy  of  inde- 
pendent solution.  This  third  type,  the  mechanic,  is 
given  recognition  in  this  company's  organization. 

The  Educational  Department  shows  also  that  these 
three  primary  differentiations  of  productive  skill  and 
intelligence  are  considered  by  the  management  of 
this  company.  Special  training  and  various  devices 
of  expert  employment^  ma^agement^  are  practiced  to 
produce  optimum  efficiency  among  the  partially 
skilled  and  specialist  labor  groups.  Carefully  super- 
vised apprenticeship  and  a  flourishing  technical  night 
school  provide  the  training  and  industrial  education 
for  the  skilled  or  mechanics  group.  Finally  as  one 
of  the  leaders  in  the  practice  of  well-managed  manu- 
facturing concerns  requiring  a  large  technical  staff, 
some  three  hundred  or  more  graduates  of  the  leading 
engineering  schools  are  each  year  employed  under 
conditions  approximating  apprenticeship  to  recruit 


4  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

the  engineering  and  administrative  force  of  the  com- 
pany. 

Special  Training. — Considering  these  various  pro- 
grams more  in  detail  we  find  that  to  efficiently  handle 
the  unskilled  and  partially  skilled  labor  employed  an 
elaborate  system  of  employment  is  utilized.  To 
facilitate  this  job  analysis  cards  have  been  compiled 
enumerating  the  duties  in  detail  of  each  separate 
occupation  in  the  plant  and  a  number  affixed  by 
which  foremen  can  make  requisitions  on  the  employ- 
ment department  for  additional  workers.  Standard 
methods  are  also  carried  out  by  this  employment 
department  to  reduce  labor  turnover,  such  as  transfer, 
when  work  slackens  in  one  department  and  increases 
in  another  or  where  dissatisfaction  develops  between 
a  foreman  and  one  of  his  workmen.  Before  any 
employee  is  discharged  or  withdraws  of  his  own  ac- 
cord the  department  endeavors  to  arrange  an  inter- 
view to  discover  the  real  reason  and  if  possible  ami- 
cably to  adjust  the  matter. 

At  the  present  time  an  intensive  training  course  is 
being  conducted  for  stenographers.  These  are  al- 
ready either  experienced  stenographers  or  fresh  from 
the  commercial  schools  and  are  given  this  special 
training  primarily  to  acquaint  them  with  company 
forms  and  practices  as  well  as  to  give  them  acquaint- 
ance with  technical  terms  peculiar  to  this  industry. 
This  lasts  from  a  period  of  a  few  days  up  to  several 
weeks  according  to  the  ability  of  the  pupils  enrolled 
and  the  demands  made  for  stenographic  help  in  the 
various  departments. 

Similarly  recruits  to  the  clerical  force  are  provided 
with  special  training  by  the  educational  department 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY         5 

upon  requisition  of  the  department  by  whom  they  are 
employed.  This  may  take  the  form  of  four  hours  per 
week  of  instruction  in  matters  directly  related  to  their 
work,  and  is  provided  for  both  sexes. 

Of  greater  interest  from  a  mechanical  standpoint 
is  the  special  training  department  or  "  vestibule 
school  "  for  operator-specialists  on  the  various  ma- 
chines of  construction.  A  boy  or  young  man  wholly 
inexperienced  may  thus  in  a  few  days  to  several 
weeks  be  taught  to  operate  the  boring  mill,  lathe,  or 
miller  and  thus  in  a  very  short  time  reach  standard 
production  capacity  when  he  is  transferred  to  regular 
production.  A  small  department  segregated  from 
the  usual  production  floors  with  standard  equipment 
is  provided  for  this  purpose.  None  of  the  work  is, 
however,  of  an  exercise  sort  but  of  a  kind  suited  to 
beginners  chosen  from  regular  production.  A  similar 
training  department  is  provided  in  winding  and  taping 
for  female  employees. 

Apprenticeship. — Of  the  organized  apprenticeship 
and  evening  instruction  provided  as  previously  stated 
for  the  mechanics  or  skilled  craftsmen,  we  shall  con- 
sider first  apprenticeship  which  has  not  waned  in 
popularity  with  the  more  capable  boys  or  in  favor 
with  the  plant's  administration  owing  to  the  intensive 
machine  training  described  above.  This  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  with  the  broader  training  provided  and 
steadier  qualities  of  the  individual  concerned  proved 
by  the  willingness  to  forego  standard  production 
wages  by  quick  training,  a  group  of  superior  work- 
men are  selected  who  are  assured  of  steady  employ- 
ment and,  later,  of  preferment  in  the  choice  of  fore- 
men, superintendents,  and  ultimately  even  of  execu- 


6  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

lives.  There  is  no  absolute  break  in  the  ladder  of 
advancement  to  those  boys  who  will  take  the  all- 
around  training. 

We  find,  at  the  present  time,  198  four-year  appren- 
tices employed  in  the  East  Pittsburgh  works.  These 
are  divided  as  follows:  142,  or  72  per  cent,  are  in  the 
machinists'  and  toolmakers'  trades,  17,  or  9  per  cent 
in  the  patternmakers',  and  39,  or  10  per  cent,  elec- 
tricians. There  is,  in  addition,  an  opportunity  offered 
for  apprenticeship  in  patternmaking  and  foundry 
work  in  the  Cleveland  works  of  the  company  where, 
at  present,  10  apprentices  in  patternmaking  are  en- 
rolled. 

An  effort  was  made  to  discover  the  ratio  of  appren- 
tices to  skilled  men  in  the  various  trades,  but  without 
success,  owing  to  the  lack  of  definition  as  to  what 
constitutes  a  skilled  man.  For  instance,  39  electri- 
cal apprentices  would,  of  course,  be  a  very  insignifi- 
cant number  compared  with  the  very  large  number  of 
people  employed  on  electrical  work  in  the  plant;  and 
the  same  applies,  though  perhaps  in  less  degree,  to 
the  other  trades.  One  must  recognize  that  in  this 
plant,  as  in  most  large  manufacturing  concerns,  much 
of  the  training,  if  provided  at  all,  is  in  limited  special 
fields  and  does  not  conform  to  regular  apprenticeship. 

"  The  latter  is  designed  to  produce  a  man  with  far 
broader  knowledge  than  is  generally  required  on  the 
majority  of  production  jobs." 

Approximately  one-third  of  the  four-year  course  is 
spent  in  a  special  training  section  by  the  machinists 
and  toolmakers  and  the  remaining  two-thirds  in  vari- 
ous sections  of  the  works  which  provide  facilities  for 
broad  experience.  There  are,  however,  no  special 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY         7 

training  sections  for  patternmakers  or  electricians,  as 
in  those  trades  it  is  believed  advisable  for  the  appren- 
tices to  learn  their  trades  by  working  with  journey- 
men in  the  respective  shops.  Definite  schedules  for 
transferring  apprentices  from  one  kind  of  work  to 
another  are  administered  by  the  Educational  Depart- 
ment, in  order  to  insure  that  each  apprentice  receives 
an  all-around  and  balanced  training  during  his  course. 

For  all  apprentices  four  hours  per  week  during  the 
entire  course  are  given  up  to  classroom  instruction. 
Classes  meet  from  7  to  9  A.M.  in  the  educational  de- 
partment for  the  study  of  mechanical  drawing  and 
practical  shop  problems.  The  textbooks  for  these 
courses  have  been  compiled  by  the  instructing  staff, 
all  problems  being  drawn  from  the  practice  in  the 
various  shop  sections. 

The  instruction  in  mechanical  drawing  includes 
blue-print  reading,  sketching,  lay-out  problems,  de- 
velopments and  tool  design.  In  "  Shop  Problems  " 
the  instruction  is  by  problems  in  English,  mechanics, 
shop  system,  costs,  and  the  applications  of  the  princi- 
ples of  arithmetic,  algebra,  geometry,  and  trigonometry 
to  shop  work.  Two  hours  of  home  work  are  re- 
quired each  week  in  addition  to  class  work.  Instruct- 
ors in  the  apprentice  school  are  selected  from  the 
engineering,  drafting,  and  shop  departments  of  the 
company.  Because  of  their  close  contact  with  the 
special  shop  conditions  encountered  in  this  particular 
industry,  these  men  are  obviously  particularly  well 
qualified  to  develop  in  each  apprentice  a  correct 
understanding  of  the  work  involved  and  an  apprecia- 
tion of  the  relation  between  the  various  trades  and 
this  industry  as  a  whole. 


8  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Apprentice  pay,  as  in  other  progressive  corpora- 
tions, has  shown  considerable  appreciation  both  dur- 
ing and  since  the  conclusion  of  the  late  war.  As  of 
January  1,  1920,  it  stood  as  follows: 

22£  per  hour  for  the  first  1218  hours 

24j£  per  hour  for  the  second  1218  hours 

26^  per  hour  for  the  third  1218  hours 

31^  per  hour  for  the  fourth  1218  hours 

33ff  per  hour  for  the  fifth  1218  hours 

35)£  per  hour  for  the  sixth  1218  hours 
39^  per  hour  for  the  seventh  1218  hours 

44j£  per  hour  for  the  eighth  1218  hours 

This  pay  is  based  on  a  forty-eight  hour  week  or  an 
average  month  of  203  hours. 

As  the  method  of  training  is  similar,  mention  should 
here  be  made  of  the  opportunities  offered  to  those 
who  wish  to  become  draftsmen.  They  start  as 
tracers  in  the  drafting  department  and  are  given 
a  two-year  supplementary  course  for  six  hours  each 
week  by  the  Educational  Department.  This  in- 
struction covers  design  problems  involving  various 
applications  of  mathematics,  physics,  mechanics, 
materials,  shop  methods,  estimating  and  cost  calcu- 
lating in  tool  design.  It  also  includes  such  special 
subjects  as  lubrication  and  bearings,  heat  transfer 
and  ventilation,  electrical  machinery,  etc.  The  pay 
is  somewhat  better  than  for  trade  apprentices,  and  at 
present  twenty  are  enrolled. 

The  company  makes  much  of  its  care  in  the  selec- 
tion of  apprentices.  For  admission  to  the  trade 
courses  the  applicant  is  required  to  be  of  the  stand- 
ard age  of  sixteen  to  nineteen  and  to  possess  the  knowl- 
edge of  English  and  arithmetic  to  be  expected  of  the 
grammar  school  graduate.  For  the  electrician's 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY         9 

course,  in  addition,  the  applicant  must  have  two 
years'  high  school  training  or  its  equivalent.  Com- 
plete high  school  training  is  ordinarily  required  for 
entrance  to  the  drafting  course. 

Every  applicant  is  interviewed  by  two  or  more 
members  of  the  company's  Trades  Apprentice  Com- 
mittee, usually  the  director  of  trades  apprentice  in- 
struction and  one  of  the  foremen.  In  case  of  doubt 
or  disagreement  as  to  the  suitability  of  a  candidate, 
he  is  turned  over  to  one  or  two  additional  interviewers 
whose  judgment  is  final  as  to  acceptance  or  rejection. 

An  interesting  method  has  been  developed  for  re- 
warding extra  proficiency.  Once  a  week  the  com- 
mittee comes  together  and  at  each  meeting  the  records 
of  all  apprentices  who  have  finished  eleven  months  of 
the  apprentice  year  are  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  members.  The  committee  examines  the  records 
and  grades  the  apprentices  into  four  classes:  A,  B,  C, 
and  D.  If  an  apprentice  is  placed  in  Class  A,  one 
month  is  taken  from  his  apprentice  course,  or  in  other 
words,  he  is  permitted  to  begin  immediately  on  his 
next  year.  If  an  apprentice  should  be  graded  as  a 
Class  A  man  at  the  end  of  each  eleven  months  during 
the  four-year  apprenticeship,  he  would  save  one 
month  each  year  and  would  finish  his  apprenticeship 
course  four  months  ahead  of  schedule.  If  he  finishes 
his  course  as  a  Class  A  man,  he  will  be  also  accorded  a 
higher  rate  as  journeyman  than  he  would  if  he  finishes 
as  a  Class  B  or  Class  C  man.  At  the  present  time, 
the  rate  per  hour  for  Class  A  men  is  3  cents  higher 
than  the  rate  for  Class  B  men,  and  the  rate  for  Class 
C  men,  3  cents  lower  than  the  rate  for  Class  B  men. 
If  the  apprentice  is  placed  in  Class  B,  he  will  be  re- 


10  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

quired  to  serve  his  normal  time.  This  class  includes 
the  majority  of  the  apprentices.  If  he  is  placed  in 
Class  C,  he  is  notified  that  he  must  show  an  improve- 
ment, and  if  he  should  be  so  deficient  that  he  is  placed 
in  Class  D,  he  is  either  discharged  or  sent  to  the  em- 
ployment department  for  suitable  work.  During  1919 
thirty-seven  were  given  Grade  A  rating  from  the 
trades  apprentices  and  student  draftsmen. 

The  Technical  Night  School.— The  night  school, 
which  has  been  previously  mentioned,  operates  under 
-the  name  of  the  "  Casino  Technical  Night  School." 
It  is  independent  of  the  company  in  its  corporate 
organization,  though  somewhat  over  one-third  of  its 
revenue  is  provided  by  the  company.  Nearly  half 
of  its  income,  however,  comes  from  fees  of  the  stu- 
dents, who  in  the  course  in  Fundamental  Engineering 
Principles  pay  $16.50  each  of  the  two  terms  per  year. 
The  same  fee  is  charged  in  the  Preparatory  Depart- 
ment, while  in  the  Foreign  Department  the  charge  is 
$7.50  per  term  and  in  the  Women's  Department 
$12.50  is  required  per  term.  The  imposition  of  so 
considerable  a  fee  naturally  limits  attendance  to  the 
more  serious  students  who  show  a  much  better  record 
for  sticking  through  the  course  than  is  the  experience 
of  most  night  schools. 

The  enrollment  is  ordinarily  less  during  the  second 
term  than  in  the  first,  but  on  March  1,  1920,  was  as 
follows : 

Engineering  Department 372 

Women's  Department 169 

Preparatory  Department 6l 

Foreign  Department 25 

Total..  .  627 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       11 

The  school,  as  its  attractive  announcement  states, 
was  founded  in  1902.  It  is  located  in  the  several 
public  schools  maintained  by  the  communities  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Westinghouse  industries  where 
the  population  is,  of  course,  largely  employed.  How- 
ever, admission  is  extended  to  all,  regardless  of  occu- 
pation, previous  education,  or  present  place  of  em- 
ployment. Only  those  who  have  completed  their 
elementary  education  are  allowed  to  enter  the  Engi- 
neering course.  All  others  must  enter  either  the  Pre- 
paratory or  Foreign  Departments.  An  interesting 
feature  worth  considering  for  our  public  schools  is 
that,  in  addition  to  grading  on  regular  courses,  all 
students  receive  ratings  on  personal  characteristics: 
Judgment,  Thoroughness,  Personality,  Reliability, 
Initiative,  and  Health.  These  ratings  are  not  shown 
on  report  cards  which  are  sent  to  individual  students, 
but  are  retained  on  the  permanent  record  card  in  the 
school  office  and  may  be  utilized  in  considering  pro- 
motions. A  faculty  of  approximately  sixty-five, 
usually  technical  graduates  drawn  from  the  staffs  of 
the  company,  with  the  able  administration  assures  a 
high  quality  of  instruction. 

The  standard  weekly  schedule  of  the  engineering 
course,  from  which  no  variation  is  ordinarily  per- 
mitted, is  shown  on  page  12. 

Inspection  trips  to  a  dozen  nearby  industrial  plants 
form  a  useful  supplement  to  the  regular  instruction 
and  an  hour  assembly  is  held  every  other  week.  At 
these  assemblies  popular  talks  are  given  by  members 
of  the  Board  of  Directors,  some  of  the  older  engineers, 
or  leading  men  throughout  the  country. 

It  may  also  be  mentioned  that  graduates  are  per- 


12 


EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 


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THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       13 


mitted  to  make  application  for  and  to  enter,  if  ac- 
cepted, the  one-year  course  for  technical  engineering 
graduates.  Several  are  at  the  present  time  availing 
themselves  of  this  privilege. 

That  the  school  has  been  successful  is  shown  by  the 
positions  held  at  present  by  the  195  graduates  of  the 
course  up  to  and  including  the  class  of  1919.  Of  the 
positions  a  summary  follows : 


Administrative , 

Managers 8 

Superintendents 5 

General  Foremen 2 

Foremen 12 

Engineering. 

Operating  and  Service 

Engineers 24 

Design   and   Research 

Engineers 18 

Consulting  Engineers. .     1 

Supervisor 1 

Draftsmen 10 

Tool  Designers 3 

Teachers 2 

Inspectors 7 

Testers..  6 


27 


72 


Commercial 

Business 2 

Oil  Field  Development.  2 

Salesmen 24 

Clerks 8 

Advertising  Writer ....  1 

Buyer 1 

Manufacturing  Trades .  .  . 

Machinists 7 

Skilled  Workmen 9 

Miscellaneous 

Farmers 3 

Students 3 

Lawyer 1 

United  States  Army  and 
Navy 


38 


16 


Deceased. 
Unknown 


Total, 


29 
6 
2 

197 


This  is  a  particularly  satisfactory  record  when  it  is 
considered  that  the  average  period  since  graduation 
is  only  approximately  six  years.  It  should  also  be 
borne  in  mind  that  this  has  been  a  service  of  benefit 


14  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

to  industry  in  general,  since  one-half  of  these  graduates 
are  now  in  the  employ  of  other  companies  than  the 
Westinghouse  Electric. 

Americanization. — This  company  is  one  of  the  few 
among  those  investigated  which  had  already  awakened 
to  the  desirability  of  Americanizing  its  alien  labor 
before  the  disaffection  and  unrest  attendant  upon 
the  late  war  aroused  the  country  to  action.  From 
the  organization  of  the  technical  night  school  a  course 
in  English  and  civic  education  for  the  immigrant 
employees  has  been  in  operation.  Many  have  been 
taught  English  and  encouraged  to  become  citizens. 
There  are  twenty-five  enrolled  in  this  course  at  pres- 
ent, receiving  instruction  for  three  hours  per  night 
three  evenings  per  week.  There  are  also  provided 
free  evening  classes  twice  a  week  in  sections  of  the 
plant  employing  a  considerable  number  of  foreign 
laborers.  In  these  classes  110  are  enrolled  and  7 
paid  teachers  are  provided.  While  the  more  exten- 
sive course  in  the  night  school  provides  an  oppor- 
tunity for  the  ambitious  young  men,  these  latter 
classes  appeal  more  particularly  to  the  older  men 
and,  between  the  two  methods,  practically  all  non- 
English  speaking  employees  are  reached. 

The  aims  of  these  classes  might  form  a  suitable 
program  in  any  plant: 

"1.  Learn  to  speak,  read,  and  write  English. 

"2.  Learn  about  the  United  States  Government  and  how  to 

become  a  citizen. 
"3.  Learn  how  to  figure  your  pay  by  the  different  methods  used 

in  the  Works. 
"4.  Learn  how  a  big  Company  like  this  is  built  up;    where 

the  money  comes  from  to  build  it  and  pay  wages. 
"5.  Learn  how  to  help  yourself  by  being  of  service  to  other 

people  and  working  well  with  them." 


THE  ELECTRICAL   MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       15 

The  success  of  the  program  may  be  gauged  by  the 
fact  that  during  the  past  year  114  were  assisted  in 
obtaining  first  papers  and  153  their  second  papers. 
In  doing  this  the  secretary  of  the  Americanization 
Committee  aids  the  men  in  getting  them  through  and 
pays  the  time  of  the  witnesses. 

Student  Engineer  Training.  —  To  recruit  the 
engineering,  administrative  and  sales  staffs,  as  has 
been  previously  mentioned,  graduates  of  the  leading 
engineering  schools  are  taken  into  the  works  for  a 
year's  training  on  a  basis  similar  to  that  of  the  intern- 
ship for  medical  students.  The  number  varies  some- 
what with  the  needs  of  the  plant  from  year  to  year, 
but  300  seems  to  be  about  the  average  number  re- 
ceived. These  students  spend  several  months  in  the 
shop  acquiring  experience  and  information  regarding 
the  company's  products,  personnel,  and  policy;  they 
are  then  segregated  into  the  specific  lines  which  they 
expect  to  follow  as  a  regular  vocation.  There  are 
three  fundamental  lines  of  employment  open  to  them, 
namely,  design  engineering,  works  management,  and 
sales.  Approximately  40  per  cent  go  into  engineer- 
ing, 40  per  cent  to  sales,  and  20  per  cent  to  works 
management.  Special  schools  are  provided  for  the 
design  engineers  and  sales  students.  These  schools 
run  for  twelve  weeks,  usually,  during  which  time  the 
student  receives  his  pay  as  usual  but  does  no  produc- 
tive work.  At  the  present  time  the  pay  is  $90  per 
month  for  the  first  six  months  and  $95  for  the  second 
six  months. 

The  Organization  for  Education. — Everyone  recog- 
nizes that  the  primary  purpose  of  a  manufacturing 
corporation  is  to  get  production.  It  is  a  newer  con- 


16  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

ception  that  there  may  be  an  important  secondary 
purpose  in  education,  which  may  minister  profitably 
to  the  main  object  of  producing  goods.  To  effect 
this  secondary  aim  of  education,  a  large  corporation 
needs  to  be  as  efficiently  organized  as  for  production. 
In  the  case  of  the  company  considered,  the  Educational 
Department  has  at  its  head  a  manager  with  a  con- 
siderable staff.  For  the  Graduate  Students  and  for 
the  Trades  Apprentices  there  is,  in  each  case,  a  Di- 
rector and,  for  the  two  departments,  a*  Foreman  in 
Charge  of  Schedules.  Competent  individuals  from 
each  field  are  also  detailed  to  handle  Tracing  and 
Drafting  Instruction,  Clerical  Training,  Stenographic 
Training;  and  the  Director  of  Trades  Apprentice 
Instruction  supervises  the  English  and  Americaniza- 
tion work.  The  Technical  Night  School  has  as  presi- 
dent the  manager  of  the  educational  department  and 
as  manager  a  man  devoting  his  whole  attention  to  it 
and  to  the  somewhat  closely  related  welfare  work  of 
providing  noon  lectures  and  directing  the  Valley 
Garden  Association,  which  provides  an  opportunity 
to  employees  who  wish  to  raise  their  own  vegetables. 
To  provide  the  necessary  co-operation  with  the 
production  and  employment  departments,  suitable 
interdepartmental  committees  have  been  created  and 
the  interest  and  support  of  employees  are  fostered 
likewise  by  committees  made  up  usually  of  those  who 
have  already  benefited  by  the  educational  oppor- 
tunities. Thus,  there  are  enthusiastic  committees  of 
the  alumni  of  the  night  school  who  solicit  new  students, 
and  of  naturalized  immigrant  employees  who  urge 
their  countrymen  to  join  the  English  and  Americaniza- 
tion classes. 


THE  ELECTRICAL   MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       17 

The  whole  program  seems  to  be  conceived  not  as 
philanthropy  or  charitable  paternalism,  but  as  essen- 
tial functions  of  a  well-organized  productive  corpora- 
tion. 

No.  2 
GENEKAL  ELECTRIC  Co.,  SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

The  Schenectady  Works  of  the  General  Electric 
Company  are  the  largest  of  this  important  electrical 
manufacturing  company.  Here  are  located  its  princi- 
pal offices,  research  laboratories,  and  a  plant,  organ- 
ized as  distinct  units  for  the  design  and  manufacture 
of  electrical  machinery  and  apparatus  of  nearly  every 
description;  steam  turbines  of  small,  medium,  and 
large  capacity;  and  many  other  mechanical  devices 
of  intricate  design,  employing  over  20,000  people. 

The  general  management  is  committed  to  an  estab- 
lished policy  of  apprenticeship  and  special  training  for 
all  types  of  employment  in  the  plant,  which  may  be 
considered  under  six  headings:  (1)  Apprenticeship; 
(2)  Engineer  Training;  (3)  Foreman  Training;  (4) 
Instructor  Training;  (5)  Intensive  Training;  and 
(6)  Americanization.  There  seems,  however,  to  be 
considerable  variation  in  the  development  of  this 
policy  in  the  various  branches  of  the  industry  and, 
to  some  extent,  between  different  departments. 

(1)  Apprenticeship. — Since  1901  a  shop  appren- 
ticeship system  has  been  in  operation.  To  quote 
from  the  attractive  announcement  of  the  department : 
"  It  began  with  a  systematized  training  in  the  various 
uses  of  machine  tools.  Later,  night  classroom  work 
was  added,  which  was  subsequently  changed  to  day 


18  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

classes."  By  the  records  of  those  who  have  com- 
pleted the  courses  to  November  1,  1919,  it  will  be 
noticed  that  the  opportunity  offered  has  been  mainly 
confined  to  three  trades: 

No.  Graduated      %  of  Total 

Machinists 626  61 . 5 

Draftsmen 251  24.7 

Moulders  and  Coremakers 129  ""2.7 

Blacksmiths 9  .9 

Tinsmiths.  .  2.2 


Total 1,017  100.0 

In  connection  with  this  table  of  graduates  it  should 
be  noted  that  tinsmithing  or  sheetmetal  working  is 
no  longer  offered  as  a  field  for  apprenticeship,  and 
that,  while  blacksmithing  is  still  offered,  there  are  at 
present  no  apprentices.  On  the  other  hand,  within 
the  past  three  years  patternmaking  has  been  intro- 
duced, in  which  there  is  a  growing  number  of  appren- 
tices. 

Statistics  are  unavailable  of  the  present  positions 
held  by  the  graduates,  but  the  records  of  the  com- 
pany show  that  the  most  capable  men  are  constantly 
being  advanced  to  responsible  positions.  In  the  an- 
nouncement of  their  apprentice  system  compiled  in 
1919,  of  the  men  still  at  the  Schenectady  Works  from 
the  Drafting  Course,  twenty  had  received  promo- 
tions, as  follows : 

Designing  Engineer 1 

Commercial  Engineer 1 

Assistant  Engineer 1 

Section  Chief 1 

Temporary  Foreman 1 

Assistant  Foreman 2 

Division  Leaders 12 

Assistant  Division  Leader 1 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY        19 

Of  those  who  had  completed  the  courses  for  Ma- 
chinists and  Blacksmiths,  fifty  are  enumerated  as 
follows : 

Foremen 8 

Assistant  Foremen 9 

Gang  Foreman \ 

Sub-foremen 10 

Designing  Draftsmen 2 

Tool  Designers 13 

Tool  Inspectors 1 

Shop  Instructors 5 

Group  Leaders 1 

Following  Special  Turbine  Work 1 

The  present  enrollment  is  as  follows: 

Machinists  and  Toolmakers 186 

Draftsmen    (both   three-   and  four-year 

courses) 115 

Patternmakers . 15 

Moulders 12 

Total 328 

The  organization  is  typical  of  efficient  apprentice- 
ship training.  In  charge  of  the  department  is  a  super- 
intendent who  has  himself  been  apprentice  trained 
with  a  long  practical  experience  coupled  with  a  good 
general  education  and  a  strong  human  interest  in  the 
boys  under  his  charge.  He  has  direct  control  of  the 
shop  training  department,  which  is  elaborately  equip- 
ped with  all  varieties  of  standard  machines  and  pro- 
vided with  a  staff  of  five  machinists-instructors,  all 
apprentice  trained.  Here,  ordinarily,  the  apprentice 
machinists  and  draftsmen  spend  at  least  one  year  of 
their  training,  learning  to  operate  all  types  of  machine- 
shop  equipment  on  actual  products  and  in  bench  and 


20  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

floor  work,  with  such  supervision  of  transfer  from 
machine  to  machine  that  they  have  an  opportunity 
to  handle  all  the  standard  machine  tools. 

In  conjunction  with  this  is  the  apprentice  school 
with  four  instructors  which  machinists,  pattern- 
makers, and  draftsmen  are  required  to  attend  three 
sessions  a  week  during  working  hours,  the  sessions 
being  from  an  hour  to  an  hour  and  a  half  in  length. 

Applicants  for  entrance  as  machinists  and  pattern- 
makers must  be  between  sixteen  and  eighteen  years 
of  age.  They  must  have  good  habits,  be  of  respect- 
able parents  and  able  to  speak,  read,  and  write  Eng- 
lish. It  is  also  considered  desirable  that  apprentices 
come  directly  from  school,  as  it  is  found,  to  quote  the 
superintendent,  "  that  such  boys  have  not  lost  habits 
of  discipline,  obedience,  and  study."  For  the  four- 
year  drafting  course  the  requirements  are  identical 
to  those  stated  above,  while  to  enter,  the  three  years7 
course  graduation  from  high  school  is  invariably  re- 
quired; and  satisfactory  samples  of  their  high  school 
work  in  mechanical  drawing  must  be  submitted.  Not 
much,  however,  in  the  way  of  academic  education  is 
apparently  expected  of  moulders,  although  they  are 
given  an  examination  in  common  fractions  and  they 
report  for  class  instruction  only  one  session  a  week. 
Only  young  men  eighteen  to  twenty-one  years  of  age 
and  strong  physically  are  accepted  for  this  trade. 

The  course  of  study  for  machinists  and  pattern- 
makers, as  outlined  in  the  announcement,  seems  to  be 
a  rather  formal  review  of  school  arithmetic  with  some 
algebra  and  geometry  and  a  course  of  mechanical 
drawing,  one  plate  of  which  is  to  be  completed  each 
month  at  home.  Two  class  sessions  a  week  are  de- 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       21 

voted  to  mathematics  and  mechanics  and  one  to 
drafting.  For  home  preparation  a  schedule  of  prob- 
lems and  drawing  are  assigned,  which  are  expected  to 
require  about  four  hours  a  week  of  study. 

The  four-year  drafting  apprentices  spend  their  first 
year  in  the  Blue  Print  Tracing  Departments  and  their 
second  year  doing  mechanical  work  in  the  machine 
shop  training  department,  the  foundry,  and  in  the 
pattern  shop.  The  three-year  apprentices  in  this 
field  enter  upon  this  work  their  first  year.  The  two 
final  years  in  each  case  are  spent  in  the  drafting  de- 
partments with  two  weeks  in  the  physical  testing 
laboratory  during  the  last  year.  Their  classroom 
work  is  a  substitution  of  algebra,  plane  geometry, 
solid  geometry,  trigonometry,  descriptive  geometry, 
mechanics,  and  strength  of  materials  with  laboratory 
work  for  the  more  elementary  mathematics  of  the 
machinists7  course. 

Rates  of  Pay. — During  the  past  two  years  remu- 
neration has  more  than  doubled,  but  apprentice  train- 
ing is  stated  to  be  a  profitable  enterprise  to  the  com- 
pany, which  is,  of  course,  as  it  should  be.  In  1917 
the  rate  of  pay  for  machinists  ranged  from  11  cents 
an  hour  for  the  first  year  to  18  cents  during  the  fourth 
year.  It  now  ranges  from  20  cents  to  36  cents  per 
hour.  A  premium  of  two  cents  an  hour  is  also  paid  for 
good  records  in  class  and  shop.  Finally  a  bonus  of 
$100  is  paid  at  the  conclusion  of  apprenticeship.  For 
draftsmen  the  same  improvement  in  pay  is  to  be  noted, 
the  rate  now  ranging  from  20  cents  an  hour  for  the 
first  year  to  40  cents  for  the  fourth  year  and  similar 
regulations  hold  as  to  premiums  and  the  final  $100- 
bonus.  High  school  graduates  start  with  the  second 


22  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

year  rate  of  26i  cents.  For  moulders  the  pay  is  21 
cents  an  hour  the  first  year,  26J  cents  the  second  year, 
30  cents  the  third  year  with  minimum  journeyman's 
rate  (now  90  cents  an  hour)  for  the  fourth  year  and  a 
bonus  of  $50  is  paid  when  the  certificate  is  conferred. 
It  should  be  noted  in  connection  with  all  the  trades 
already  referred  to,  that  indentures  are  in  each  case 
entered  into  between  the  company  and  the  young 
man  with  his  parents.  At  the  satisfactory  comple- 
tion of  the  term  of  apprenticeship  a  certificate  is  con- 
ferred. 

(2)  Engineer  Training  in  the  Testing  Department. — 
There  are  two  distinct  groups  being  trained  in  the 
testing  department  while  carrying  through  its  work. 
The  first  group  is  made  up  of  high  school  graduates, 
the  second,  in  the  main  of  electrical  engineering  grad- 
uates but  also  those  from  the  first  group  who  success- 
fully complete  the  work  laid  out  for  them. 

In  the  first  group  there  are  at  present  75  enrolled  in 
what  is  called  a  "  preliminary  course,"  which  to  some 
extent  approximates  apprenticeship  as  electricians. 
Their  course  is  normally  two  years  and  one-half  in 
length;  though  one  may  materially  reduce  the  time 
required  to  cover  it,  if  he  displays  unusual  ability. 
The  practical  work  is  a  routine  course  laid  out  of 
measuring  work  during  the  first  year  with  work  as 
assistants  in  testing  during  the  remainder  of  the  course. 
Instruction  in  which  a  standard  electrical  textbook  is 
followed  is  given  once  a  week  with  monthly  quizzes. 
The  management  of  the  department  emphasize  the 
fact  that  each  one  being  trained  is  considered  individ- 
ually upon  his  own  merits.  It  is  evident  that  young 
men  undergoing  this  training  have  large  opportuni- 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       23 

i 

ties  to  learn  by  observation  as  well  as  by  the  book  in- 
struction and  the  practical  work  performed.  The 
pay  starts  at  30  cents  an  hour  or  $17.60  a  week  with 
normal  increases  of  4  cents  an  hour  every  six  months. 
At  the  end  of  this  informal  apprenticeship  the  young 
men  pursuing  this  course  are  given  an  examination 
and,  if  they  pass  successfully,  are  admitted  to  the 
regular  test  course  for  engineering  graduates.  In 
this  way  9  have  graduated  during  each  of  the  past 
two  years. 

In  this  test  course  open  to  the  second  group  there 
were  377  student  engineers  during  1919  coming  from 
the  leading  technical  schools  both  in  this  country  and 
abroad.  Ordinarily  the  student  spends  a  year  at  this 
work,  thus  corresponding  to  the  year's  internship  of 
the  medical  school  graduate.  The  student  acquires 
a  training  through  observation  and  the  practice  in  the 
work  which  they  perform,  but  also  by  the  technical 
lectures  and  discussions  constantly  available  through 
the  club  to  which  they  are  admitted  by  pursuing  this 
course.  The  pay  of  these  student  engineers  is  at  the 
rate  of  50  cents  an  hour  for  a  forty-nine  hour  week 
for  the  first  six  months  and  55  cents  for  the  second 
six  months,  which  figures  out  at  $24.50  and  $27.50  per 
week  for  the  respective  periods. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  company  it  serves  two 
purposes.  It  provides  a  large  corps  from  which  the 
other  departmental  heads  may  select  recruits  for  their 
respective  departments  and  it  familiarizes  these  stu- 
dent engineers  with  the  products  of  this  company  so 
that  they  will  be  in  a  position  to  utilize  them  even 
though  they  enter  the  employ  of  other  companies  at 
the  end  of  their  year's  experience.  To  what  extent 


24  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

and  in  what  field  the  company  absorbed  these  men 
may  be  gauged  from  this  summary  of  transfers  in  1919. 

Total  number  of  men  engaged  for  the  year  1919 > . . . .  304 

Total  number  of  men  leaving  the  Testing  Depot 209 

Of  these  there  were  transferred  to  Commercial  Department 44 

Engineering  Department 48 

Construction  Department 6 

Factory  Department 7 

District  Offices .  .  8 


Total  remaining  with  the  Company 113 

Leaving  to  accept  position  with  other  companies 77 

Miscellaneous  (dropped,  discharged,  leaving  on  account  of  health, 

resigned,  etc.) 23 

This  shows  that  about  55  per  cent  accepted  perma- 
nent employment  with  the  company,  which  conforms 
to  the  condition  shown  by  their  record  of  recent  years. 
Mention  should  also  be  made  of  the  73  engineering 
students  who  in  the  summer  of  their  college  junior 
year  were  employed  in  this  department  and  who, 
added  to  the  number  mentioned  above,  give  the  total 
of  377  mentioned  earlier. 

(3)  Foreman  Training. — As  an  initial  step  in  the 
comprehensive  scheme  of  systematic  training  for  all 
employees  entering  the  plant  or  of  "  upgrading  "  for 
those  being  advanced  to  improved  positions,  there 
have  this  year  been  organized  classes  for  foremen, 
meeting  once  a  week  for  one  and  one-half  hours  and 
extending  through  fifteen  to  twenty  weeks.  Since 
the  completion  of  the  first  group  the  plan  is  now  being 
tried  of  having  them  meet  daily,  so  that  the  series  con- 
cludes in  about  five  weeks'  time.  This  plan  seems  to 
be  more  favorably  received  than  the  more  protracted 
course,  as  it  permits  closer  connecting  of  the  daily 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       25 

units  with  the  others  of  the  series.  Upon  this  basis, 
the  director  is  handling  three  groups  simultaneously. 

These  classes  are  composed  of  General  Foremen, 
Foremen,  Assistant  Foremen,  and  Sub  Foremen  and 
are  limited  to  12  in  each  group,  so  as  to  provide  for 
free  discussion.  An  average  of  85  per  cent  in  attend- 
ance was  maintained,  which  is  satisfactory  when  the 
difficulties  of  assembling  the  administrative  force  of  a 
large  plant  are  considered.  The  practice  is  to  limit 
the  attendance  in  each  section  to  not  more  than  two 
men  from  any  one  department,  so  that  the  discussion 
will  be  general  rather  than  of  special  departmental 
problems. 

The  course  seems  to  be  a  combination  of  what  might 
be  called  labor  psychology  with  an  analysis  of  the 
duties  of  foremanship.  The  following  topics  are 
typical :  Handling  men  through  leadership,  interest, 
and  job  pride;  Carelessness,  temporary  and  persistent; 
Safety;  Health  and  hygiene;  Production  and  mana- 
gerial phases;  Machines;  Records  and  reports;  Job 
analysis;  Man  analysis;  Tying  up  man  and  job. 

(4)  Instructor  Training. — The  next  step  planned  is 
to  organize  training  classes  for  instructors  in  special 
training  for  the  important  types  of  semi-skilled  and 
specialist  employment.     For  this,  intensive  full-time 
courses  several  weeks  in  length  are  planned.     They 
will  consist  of  a  careful  analysis  of  all  the  operations 
involved  in  the  employment  and  of  the  difficulties  to 
be  overcome  in  teaching  them  to  the  learner  to  the 
end  that  his  time  of  inefficient  production  may  be 
shortened  as  much  as  possible. 

(5)  Intensive  Training. — Intensive  training  is  now 
provided  in  several  departments.     It  is  not  at  present. 


26  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

the  policy  to  provide  a  "  vestibule  school,"  that  is  of 
a  training  department  distinct  from  that  for  regular 
production.  Instead  training  is  provided  on  the 
regular  production  floor  and  at  the  regular  machines, 
either  the  foreman  or  an  experienced  workman  pro- 
viding .the  instruction.  Thus,  for  example,  armature 
winders  were  being  trained  to  the  skillful  manipula- 
tion of  their  machine  until  the  quality  of  uniform 
winding  and  a  reasonable  speed  is  attained.  It  will 
be  systematized  in  these  departments  and  extended  to 
others  when  the  Instructor  Training  described  above 
has  been  carried  out. 

(6)  Americanization. — The  sixth  phase  of  training 
and  education  in  the  industry  is  found  in  the  field  of 
teaching  English  and  of  civic  training  to  alien  em- 
ployees. A  department  was  organized  for  this  pur- 
pose which  early  in  the  winter  completed  a  survey  as 
the  initial  step.  Of  the  total  employees,  6,200  were 
found  to  be  foreign  born.  Of  these  2,000  were  il- 
literate in  English  and  700  in  both  English  and  their 
native  language.  Forty  volunteer  teachers  were  en- 
listed and  classes  arranged  to  meet  twice  a  week  for 
one  hour  at  4.30  P.M.,  just  after  the  day  shift,  or  at 
7.30  P.M.,  just  before  the  night  shift.  The  places  of 
meeting  were  throughout  all  sections  of  the  works. 
A  partitionecL-off  recitation  room  is  not  considered 
essential,  a  blackboard  and  seating  benches  which 
will  collapse  against  the  wall  being  the  only  equipment 
installed.  This  saves  loss  of  time  in  going  to  recita- 
tion rooms  not  readily  accessible  and  reduces  the  in- 
convenience to  both  instructors  and  students  to  the 
minimum  and  .promises  attendance  of  the  same  regu- 
larity as  daily  employment. 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       27 

As  the  conclusion  of  this  series  of  classes  about  800 
each  are  now  coming  up  for  their  first  and  second 
papers.  The  department  is  offering  them  all  assist- 
ance possible,  providing  them  conveyance  in  going  to 
the  court,  in  going  through  the  formalities  and  by 
conferences  explaining  away  the  difficulties  which 
naturally  come  up.  This  part  of  the  program  is  being 
carried  through  at  the  rate  of  about  60  men  a  week. 


No.  3 

GENERAL  ELECTRIC  Co.,  WEST  LYNN,  MASS. 

Th'e  West  Lynn  plant  of  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany has  some  unique  features  in  its  educational  and 
training  programs  which  recommend  it  for  special 
consideration.  These  are  embraced  in  the  following 
departments:  (1)  an  apprentice  system,  inaugurated 
in  1902  and  now  a  well  established  branch  of  its  or- 
ganization with  supplementary  instruction  provided 
in  an  apprentice  school  and  an  engineering  school; 
(2)  a  co-operative  training  course  for  engineers;  (3)  a 
special  training  department  to  provide  instruction  for 
foremen  and  intensive  training  for  beginners  at  the 
various  specialties;  and  finally  (4)  schools  for  teach- 
ing English  to  its  immigrant  employees  and  to  pre- 
pare for  their  naturalization. 

(1)  The  Apprentice  Department. — The  outstanding 
distinctive  feature  of  apprenticeship  in  this  plant  is 
the  organic  independence  of  the  training  department 
for  apprentices  from  the  regular  production  depart- 
ments. It  is  obvious  that  this  offers  the  advantage 
of  permitting  the  superintendent  of  apprenticeship 


28  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

to  see  that  all  varieties  of  experience  are  provided 
without  interfering  with  regular  production., 

At  present  training  is  being  provided  for  327  ap- 
prentices embraced  under  the  following  trades: 

Machine,  Tool,  and  Die  Making  (four  years'  course) 193 

(three  years'  course) 50 

Special  students  (two  and  one-half  years'  course) 6 

Pattern  making  (four  years'  course) 21 

Draftsmen  and  Designers  (three  years'  course) 22 

Electrical  Testing  (three  years'  course) 35 

Total 327 

There  is  also  a  four-year  schedule  laid  out  for  Brass 
Moulders  and  a  three-year  program  for  Iron  and  Steel 
Moulders,  but  apparently  those  who  wish  to  enter 
upon  apprenticeship  consider  the  other  courses  more 
to  their  taste.  There  is  also  scheduled  a  course  for 
technical  clerks,  but  this  is  likewise  without  any  candi- 
dates. 

Entrance  to  the  four-year  courses  requires,  as  usual 
the  attainment  of  at  least  the  sixteenth  birthday  and 
the  completion  of  grammar  school.  For  the  three- 
year  courses  the  completion  of  high  school  is  a  pre- 
requisite, and  the  satisfactory  passing  of  an  examina- 
tion in  algebra,  plane  geometry  and  elementary 
mechanics.  The  first  two  months  are  considered  a 
trial  period,  after  which  satisfactory  students  are 
allowed  to  sign  the  standard  apprentice  agreement, 
which  specifies  the  usual  conditions  of  apprenticeship. 

For  practical  experience  the  machinists  spend  their 
entire  four  years  in  the  training  department,  which  is 
amply  equipped  with  all  the  usual  machine  tools,  the 
work  being  selected  from  regular  production  jobs. 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       29 

Here  also  the  draftsmen  spend  approximately  a  year 
and  a  half  of  their  apprenticeship  on  machine  tool 
operations,  tool  making  and  repairing  of  machinery, 
followed  by  a  similar  period  of  time  in  the  drawing 
offices.  The  Electrical  Tester  apprentices  likewise 
spend  a  year  in  these  shops.  Of  the  remainder  of 
their  course  three  months  are  spent  in  the  winding 
department  and  six  months  in  the  drawing  office  while 
the  rest  of  their  apprenticeship  is  spent  in  assembling 
and  testing  electrical  machinery.  The  engineering 
students  who  are  in  the  plant  on  a  co-operative  basis, 
whose  training  is  described  more  fully  later,  also  put 
in  part  of  their  time  in  this  shop. 

Apprentice  School. — In  this  plant  larger  provision 
is  made  for  supplementary  instruction  than  is  custom- 
ary in  most  plants,  daily  one-and-one-half-hour  reci- 
tations being  required.  For  the  machinists  the 
complete  course  includes  arithmetic,  algebra,  plane 
geometry,  trigonometry,  elements  of  mechanics,  power 
transmission,  strength  of  materials,  elementary  elec- 
tricity, chemistry  of  common  metals,  free-hand  and 
mechanical  drawing,  machine  and  tool  design,  business 
English,  and  industrial  history.  For  the  pattern- 
makers, electricity  is  omitted  and  an  extended  course 
in  mechanical  drawing  with  special  reference  to 
patternmaking  is  provided. 

Engineering  School. — For  the  draftsmen  and  elec- 
trical testers,  the  supplementary  instruction  is  given 
in  what  is  called  the  Engineering  School  and  consists 
of  advanced  algebra,  plane  geometry,  descriptive  and 
analytical  geometry,  mechanics  and  mechanisms, 
mechanics  of  materials,  magnetism  and  electricity, 
machine  and  dynamo  design,  heat  and  heat  engines, 


30  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

elementary  chemistry  and  metallurgy,  mechanical 
drawing,  and  business  English.  A  somewhat  similar 
schedule  of  instruction  is  laid  out  for  technical  clerks 
but,  as  previously  stated,  there  are  at  present  none 
pursuing  the  course. 

Mention  should  be  made  of  the  prominence  ap- 
parently given  to  social  and  recreational  activities  in 
the  way  of  athletic  teams,  picnics  in  the  summer  and 
apprentice  clubs  during  the  evenings. 

Also  one  may  remark  the  interest  that  is  taken  in 
the  apprentices  after  graduation.  At  the  back  of  the 
attractive  announcement  of  this  apprentice  system  a 
register  of  graduates  with  their  present  positions  when 
known  has  been  inserted.  From  this  list  of  489 
graduates  enumerated,  to  which  should  be  added  those 
unrecorded,  making  a  total  of  587,  one  can  by  their 
present  positions  to  some  extent  gauge  the  quality 
of  the  instruction,  and  while  there  has  been  no  at- 
tempt to  check  the  accuracy  of  the  records,  it  is  be- 
lieved there  is  ample  justification  for  the  opinion  that 
the  record  compares  favorably  with  that  of  any  insti- 
tution, public  or  private,  seeking  to  train  for  the  same 
type  of  employments. 

By  an  analysis  of  this  data  it  is  found  that  116,  or 
less  than  one-fourth  of  the  graduates,  are  still  in  the 
employ  of  the  General  Electric  Company.  This  may 
be  interpreted  either  as  proof  that  the  company  did 
not  place  sufficient  value  on  the  services  of  those 
whom  it  had  trained  to  hold  them  or,  in  view  of  the 
responsible  positions  which  they  now  hold,  that  a 
service  in  the  way  of  free  education  had  been  per- 
formed for  the  benefit  of  industry  in  general  through- 
out the  country.  The  latter  is  the  more  reasonable 


THE  ELECTRICAL   MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY        31 

interpretation,  as  it  is  quite  evidently  in  the  interest 
of  the  individuals  concerned  and  of  the  public  to 
have  as  many  skilled  artisans  as  our  industrial  utili- 
zation will  warrant.  Again,  it  is  an  unfair  criticism 
of  the  company  to  point  out  that  this  training  has 
been  given  under  conditions  extremely  profitable  to 
the  company.  If  apprentice  training  is  a  profitable 
enterprise  for  a  corporation,  it  is  quite  evidently  the 
privilege  of  competitors  to  embark  in  the  same  busi- 
ness and  competition  for  candidates  would  quite 
evidently  force  up  the  wages  paid  to  the  limit  where 
apprentice  training  is  no  more  profitable  than  regular 
production. 

Based  on  the  incomplete  data  available,  the  analysis 
of  graduate  registry  revealed  that  positions  are  now 
held  as  follows: 

Administrative 73 

Managers 5 

Assistant  Managers 4 

Superintendents 7 

Assistant  Superintendent 1 

Foremen .  ,t 31 

Assistant  Foremen 25 

Professional  (Engineering) 141 

Engineers 4 

Electrical  Engineers 2 

Construction  Engineers 3 

Assistant  Engineers 6 

Inventors 2 

Experimental  Work 1 

Designers 20 

Tool  Designers 41 

Chief  Draftsmen 3 

Draftsmen 32 

Inspectors 4 

Associate  Editor  Machinery 1 

Electrical  Testers..  22 


32  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Educational 30 

Superintendents  of  Apprentices 3 

Director  Manual  Training 1 

Supervisor  Manual  Training 1 

Instructors  Trade  and  Apprentice  Schools  25 

Commercial 25 

Proprietors  (Garage,  Machine  Co.,  etc.)  5 

Salesmen 16 

Technical  Clerks 3 

Purchasing  Clerks 1 

Manufacturing  Trade 194 

Tool  Makers 110 

Moulders 25 

Patternmakers 40 

Machinists 11 

Die  Makers 5 

Die  Sinkers 2 

Steam  Fitters 1 

Miscellaneous 6 

Patrolman . .  1 

Unclassified 2 

University  student 1 

Unknown 2 

Deceased 20 

Not  Listed 98 

Total 587 

This  record  seems  particularly  creditable  when  one 
considers  the  fact  that  the  average  period  since  com- 
pletion of  apprenticeship  for  all  graduates  is  only 
approximately  seven  years. 

Compensation  is  at  present  at  the  following  rates: 
Machinists,  Patternmakers,  and  Brass  Moulder  Ap- 
prentices 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       33 

18j4  per  hour  for  the  first      half  year 
20ff  per  hour  for  the  second  half  year 
22ff  per  hour  for  the  second  whole  year 
26^  per  hour  for  the  third     whole  year 
31^  per  hour  for  the  fourth  whole  year 

$100  is  the  bonus  paid  to  the  apprentice  when  he 
satisfactorily  completes  one  of  these  courses. 

For  the  draftsmen,  electrical  testers,  and  technical 
clerks  the  rate  is  as  follows: 

21jzf  per  hour  for  the  first  half  year 
24^f  per  hour  for  the  second  half  year 
27 'i  per  hour  for  the  third  half  year 
30f£  per  hour  for  the  fourth  half  year 
33ff  per  hour  for  the  third  whole  year 

In  this  case  the  bonus  is  $75. 

Co-operative  Arrangement  for  Engineering  Stu- 
dents.— So  far  there  has -been  outlined  apprenticeship 
of  the  two  usual  grades,  that  for  grammar  school  gradu- 
ates with  entrance  preferably  at  the  age  of  16  and  for 
high  school  graduates  with  entrance  at  around  18. 
The  General  Electric  Company  has,  however,  this 
year  inaugurated  in  co-operation  with  the  Massa- 
chusetts Institute  of  Technology  apprenticeship  upon 
a  still  higher  plane.  For  this,  about  40  students  who 
have  completed  the  first  two  years  of  the  course  in 
electrical  engineering  at  the  school  of  technology  are 
annually  selected  and  divided  into  two  groups,  one 
working  at  the  electric  plant  and  the  other  studying 
at  the  school.  Thirteen  weeks  constitute  the  term 
in  the  plant  with  regular  working  hours  of  the  forty- 
eight  hour  week  when  working  in  the  shops  and  of 
forty-four  hours  when  in  the  offices.  At  the  school 
the  term  is  eleven  weeks  in  length,  there  being  four 
terms  a  year  in  both  cases.  The  period  of  apprentice- 


34  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

ship  under  this  plan  is  three  years  leading  to  the 
master 's  degree  in  science. 

The  following  features  seem  to  particularly  recom- 
mend the  plan  in  comparison  with  similar  co-opera- 
tive plans  of  other  engineering  colleges  securing  prac- 
tical experience  for  their  students  in  industrial  plants. 
The  Technology  professor  who  is  in  general  charge  of 
the  students  as  representative  of  the  Institute  is  as- 
sociated with  the  superintendent  of  apprenticeship 
for  the  company  in  arranging  the  progress  of  the  stu- 
dent from  one  operation  or  department  to  another 
so  as  to  secure  as  varied  experience  as  possible. 
Secondly,  three  afternoon  sessions  of  the  students 
are  held  each  week  at  the  works  in  which  one  session 
has  this  novel  feature  as  training  in  English.  A 
selected  number  of  the  students  organize  into  a 
board  of  directors  before  whom  selected  students 
appear  to  present  an  engineering  project  for  approval. 
This  is  intended  to  eradicate  the  deficiency  found  in 
many  engineers  of  the  lack  of  capacity  to  convinc- 
ingly market  their  ideas.  The  remaining  sessions  are 
devoted  to  the  study  of  those  scientific  principles 
which  are  directly  connected  with  the  correlated 
work  of  the  shops.  During  these  assignments  lec- 
tures on  the  different  phases  of  manufacturing  methods 
are  given  by  departmental  managers  and  superin- 
tendents of  the  company.  On  this  basis  29  lectures 
have  been  arranged  in  each  case  by  the  works  special- 
ists in  the  field  concerned. 

In  the  final  year  it  is  planned  to  allow  considerable 
latitude  to  the  students  in  the  selection  of  their  line 
of  work,  being  either  shop  management  in  the  works' 
office  or  research  in  the  company's  laboratories.  Also, 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       35 

at  the  conclusion  of  the  prescribed  work  an  optional 
additional  term  of  thirteen  weeks  at  the  works  is 
offered  and  graduates  are  under  no  compulsion  to 
permanently  enter  the  employ  of  the  company. 

Compensation  is  paid  by  the  company  to  students 
in  this  course  at  an  hourly  rate,  amounting  approxi- 
mately to  $15  a  week  for  the  first  two  terms  at  the 
works,  $17.50  for  the  next  two  terms  and  $20  a  week 
for  the  last  two  terms.  This  makes  a  total  payment 
of  over  $1,300  during  the  co-operation  period.  Stu- 
dents also  share  the  regular  conditions  of  bonuses  and 
in  case  of  overtime  are  paid  at  the  rate  of  time  and  a 
half. 

Special  Training. — A  special  training  department 
is  at  present  in  the  process  of  development.  It  is  the 
plan  of  the  director  to  build  from  the  top  down. 
With  that  in  view,  he  started  with  conferences  of  the 
superintendents,  in  order  to  create  a  common  point 
of  view  and  a  favorable  impression  of  the  program 
contemplated.  Ultimately  he  plans  it  to  reach  through 
all  grades  requiring  special  skill.  Having  reached  the 
departmental  heads,  the  director's  assistant  is  at 
present  conducting  foremen's  classes  which  meet  daily 
during  a  period  of  three  weeks.  Enrollment  which  is 
wholly  voluntary  is  open  to  all  foremen.  Each  group 
is  made  up  of  10  men  consisting  in  each  case  of  a  cost 
man,  production  man,  inspector,  and  stock  man, 
while  the  other  six  are  floor  foremen  from  various  build- 
ings and  jobs  but  in  all  cases  of  the  same  rank.  The 
reason  for  the  makeup  of  sections  on  this  basis  is 
obviously  to  eradicate  the  misunderstandings  fre- 
quently to  be  found  in  plants  with  a  highly  functional- 
ized  organization.  The  analysis  prepared  by  the 


36  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Federal  Board  of  Vocational  Education  for  foreman 
training  is  being  used  as  the  basis  for  the  course  with 
such  modifications  as  the  special  conditions  of  the 
plant  seem  to  warrant.  The  next  step  in  this  train- 
ing will  probably  be  the  assembling  of  these  same  men 
by  departments,  in  order  to  attack  the  problems  con- 
fronting each  department  as  distinct  from  the  gen- 
eral problems  of  foremanship. 

The  training  of  specialties  instructors  is  also  in  prog- 
ress. This  contemplates  careful  job  analysis  with 
training  in  instruction  methods.  Where  this  has  been 
tried  it  is  said  learning  time  for  the  recruit  has  already 
been  reduced  in  one  operation  from  two  months  to  two 
weeks  with  a  better  learning  of  the  process  at  the  end 
of  that  time. 

English  and  Naturalization  Classes. — There  is,  in 
addition  to  the  departments  of  education  already 
mentioned,  a  department  of  Americanization  under 
the  charge  of  a  director  who  is  forming  classes  in 
English  as  frequently  as  required.  Enrollment  is 
continued  in  these  until  a  satisfactory  facility  to  speak 
and  read  has  been  acquired  by  the  non-English  speak- 
ing employees.  During  the  past  winter  107  have 
completed  the  course.  Naturalization  classes  are 
then  open  to  those  desiring  them,  in  which  200  are 
at  present  enrolled.  The  course  in  this  field  consists 
of  20  lessons,  which  are  planned  to  provide  as  broad 
training  as  is  possible  in  the  limited  time  in  the  field 
of  civic  training  and  to  lead  to  the  securing  of  natural- 
ization papers  upon  their  completion. 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       37 

No.  4 

WESTERN  ELECTRIC  COMPANY,  INC. 

The  Western  Electric  Company,  organized  in  1869, 
is  the  oldest  manufacturer  in  the  United  States  en- 
gaged continuously  and  exclusively  in  producing 
electrical  apparatus.  The  Company  does  a  world- 
wide business  in  the  manufacture  and  installation  of 
telephone  exchange  equipment,  aerial  and  under- 
ground lead  covered  cable,  interphones  and  mine 
telephones,  train  dispatching  outfits,  military  tele- 
phones, radio  telephones,  printing  telegraphs,  and  a 
complete  line  of  other  apparatus  to  meet  the  needs  of 
telephone  and  telegraph  users.  In  addition  to  ap- 
paratus of  its  own  manufacture,  the  Company  dis- 
tributes a  complete  line  of  electrical  supplies.  Among 
them  are  pole  line  hardware  and  poles,  central  station, 
electric  light  and  power  specialities,  street  railway 
specialties,  electric  wiring  devices,  household  elec- 
trical goods  and  power  apparatus. 

The  Company's  activities  are  divided  into  three 
main  divisions — Engineering,  Manufacturing,  and 
Commercial.  The  principal  manufacturing  plant  is 
located  at  Chicago,  Illinois  (Hawthorne  Station), 
the  Engineering  Department  in  New  York  City,  and 
the  Installation  and  Distributing  houses  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.  In  this  immense  organization 
there  has  been  developed  an  elaborate  system  to  pro- 
vide apprenticeship  and  special  training  in  the  many 
different  kinds  of  work  required  in  the  production 
and  distribution  of  electrical  apparatus.  It  has  been 
the  policy  of  the  Company,  or  rather  its  responsibility, 


38  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

"  to  assist  in  developing  the  employee  to  the  full  ex- 
tent of  that  employee's  capacity.  It  matters  not 
where  the  employee  had  to  turn  off  in  his  previous 
work  or  education." 

Training  of  Office  Boys. — In  the  Manufacturing 
Plant,  where  there  are  more  than  100  office  boys,  there 
is  an  instructor  assigned  to  see  that  these  boys  fresh 
from  school  are  started  right  in  the  Company's  em- 
ploy. The  office  boy  comes  to  them  "  not  as  a  nec- 
essary evil  but  as  a  potential  executive."  During 
the  first  two  weeks  he  is  taught  the  geography  of 
the  Plant.  The  Plant  occupies  approximately  210 
acres  of  land,  while  in  the  buildings  themselves  there 
are  over  75  acres  of  floor  space.  The  new  boy  is 
usually  accompanied  by  one  of  the  older  boys,  who 
takes  him  on  his  route  around  the  Plant.  After  famil- 
iarizing themselves  with  the  geography  of  the  Plant, 
they  are  instructed  in  matters  of  courtesy  and  de- 
portment. At  certain  times  during  the  week  they 
are  assembled  together,  when  their  supervisor  talks 
to  them  about  their  duties  and  responsibilities.  If 
the  boy  is  ambitious  and  has  a  desire  to  enter  the 
Production  or  Operating  Departments,  he  may  qualify 
by  attending  certain  classes  and  doing  assigned  read- 
ing, until  he  is  of  sufficient  age  and  maturity  to  enter 
these  departments.  He  is  also,  at  the  age  of  16, 
eligible  to  enter  the  apprenticeship  courses. 

Training  of  Apprentices. — While  entrance  to  the 
apprenticeship  course  is  not  confined  to  office  boys, 
it  is,  however,  limited  to  those  between  the  ages  of 
16  and  20  who  have  a  good  grammar  school  education, 
inclusive  of  a  working  knowledge  of  elementary  mathe- 
matics. Naturally,  preference  is  given  in  the  appren- 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       39 

ticeship  course  to  those  who  have  had  part  or  full  high- 
school  training.  Before  being  allowed  to  take  up 
this  training,  each  applicant,  in  addition  to  a  personal 
interview,  has  to  pass  an  examination  to  determine 
his  fitness  for  the  work.  They  then  serve  a  three- 
months'  probationary  period  to  determine  their  apti- 
tude and  fitness,  final  acceptance  depending  on  evi- 
dence of  intelligence,  good  spirit,  punctuality,  and 
mechanical  aptitude.  Observation  of  the  appren- 
tices leads  one  to  believe  that  these  considerations 
have  been  rigidly  adhered  to  in  the  choice  of  the  boys 
in  the  course. 

In  the  Hawthorne  Plant  an  opening  is  provided 
for  boys  of  high  school  training  to  learn  either  the 
"  tool  "  or  "  instrument-maker's  "  trades.  The  tool 
designing  course,  which  is  a  thorough  going  appren- 
ticeship, extends  through  a  period  of  three  years  of 
2,400  hours  each.  Six  hours  of  each  week  are  spent 
in  classroom  work,  which  includes  training  in  mathe- 
matics, drafting  room  standards,  and  the  principles 
of  tool  design.  The  rest  of  the  time  is  spent  on  prac- 
tical work  in  the  operation  of  tool-making  machinery 
of  all  kinds. 

In  the  Engineering  Department,  located  in  New 
York  City,  an  apprenticeship  course  is  offered  only 
for  "  instrument  "  makers.  The  work  in  this  plant 
which  was  investigated,  shows  an  endeavor  to  pro- 
vide the  best  possible  facilities  for  apprenticeship 
training.  The  work  has  only  been  initiated  this 
year,  so  that  there  are  at  present  but  20  boys  in  the 
first  year  of  their  apprenticeship.  They  are  under 
the  direct  supervision  of  an  engineering  graduate, 
who  has  served  a  regular  apprenticeship  previous  to 


40  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

his  university  course,  and  who  has  for  some  years 
been  employed  in  the  production  department  of  the 
Company. 

All  training  work  in  the  apprenticeship  course  is 
conducted  in  the  Model  Shop  of  the  Engineering 
Department  under  the  careful  guidance  of  the  Super- 
visor. In  addition,  classroom  and  laboratory  in- 
struction is  provided  for  a  total  of  six  hours  per  week 
throughout  the  course.  This  includes  elementary 
training  in  drawing,  elementary  mathematics,  applied 
mathematics,  the  properties  of  engineering  materials, 
etc.  These  classes  are  conducted  within  regular 
working  hours  during  the  morning  when  the  boys  will 
receive  the  greatest  benefit  from  the  instruction. 
Only  a  very  limited  amount  of  outside  study  is  re- 
quired. The  course  extends  through  three  and  a 
half  years  of  24Q.6  working  hours.  The  working  week 
is  forty-eight  hours,  the  same  as  that  of  the  regular 
Production  Department. 

Before  entering  upon  his  apprenticeship  course,  an 
"  indenture,"  or  agreement,  is  entered  into  with  his 
parents  or  guardian,  which  binds  him  to  observe 
certain  rules  and  perform  certain  services  during  his 
apprenticeship.  The  Company  binds  itself  to  "  care- 
fully and  skillfully  teach  every  branch  of  the  trade  or 
art  of  instrument  making."  Upon  the  satisfactory 
completion  of  the  three  and  a  half  year  course,  a 
certificate  is  given.  A  unique  feature  of  the  agree- 
ment is  that,  in  addition  to  the  $100  usually  given  as 
a  bonus  upon  graduation,  it  is  agreed  that  upon  the 
completion  of  the  first  year  of  work  as  a  journeyman, 
another  $100  is  to  be  paid.  The  wages  during  this 
first  year  as  a  journeyman  shall  not  be  less  than  80 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       41 

per  cent  of  usual  journeyman's  wages.  This  is,  pre- 
sumably, planned  to  encourage  the  apprentices  to 
remain  in  the  Company's  employ  after  they  have  com- 
pleted their  training.  It  has  been  the  experience  of 
the  Company  that  only  a  few  of  the  apprentices  leave 
the  Company  after  having  completed  their  training. 
In  this  agreement  are  also  stipulated  the  rates  of  pay 
for  each  period  of  the  apprenticeship,  and  other 
matters  relating  to  the  apprentice's  relations  with 
the  Company.  There  is  one  clause  in  the  agreement 
regarding  the  rates  of  pay  which  is  worth  noting. 
"  Should  the  rates  of  pay  to  apprentices  employed  by 
the  Company  be  increased  subsequent  to  entering 
upon  the  contract,  the  pay  of  the  apprentice  in  any 
contract  would  automatically  be  increased." 

Special  Training  for  High  School  Graduates. — 
For  graduates  of  technical  or  commercial  high  schools 
the  following  four  courses  have  been  arranged  at  the 
Hawthorne  Works  and  the  New  York  Engineering 
Department : 

1.  The    Production   Course. — This   course   extends 
through  a  period  of  one  year  and  covers  the  work  in 
fourteen    separate    departments.     The    training    in- 
cludes the  study  of  the  equipment  and  supplying  of 
shops  with  materials  for  manufacturing,  the  speci- 
fication of  apparatus  and  parts  to  be  made,  and  the 
following  of  the  productive  work  through  the.  .shops. 
This  training  is  given  on  the  job,  and  is  supplemented 
by  classroom  discussions  and  lectures. 

2.  The  Accounting  Course. — This  course  is  also  one 
year  in  length,  and  is  planned  primarily  to  give  the 
student    a    general    knowledge    of    the    Company's 
system  of  accounting  as  a  whole,  before  specializing 


42  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

in  the  records  and  cost  accounting  systems  of  the 
various  departments. 

3.  The  Manufacturing   Course.     This  course  con- 
sists of  a  year's  training  in  the  operating  departments, 
where  the  student  works  on  the  different  machines. 
This  training  is  supplemented  by  trips  to  the  other 
.departments  of  the  plant,  in  order  to  give  them  a 
knowledge  of  the  entire  organization.     At  the  com- 
pletion of  this  course,  they  are  assigned  to  some  branch 
of  the  Operating  Division. 

4.  Laboratory  Assistants. — In  the  Engineering  De- 
partment in  New  York  City  there  are  two  courses 
open  for  technical  high  school  graduates,  or  employees 
with  equivalent  preparation,  as  laboratory  assistants. 
These  courses  are  three  years  in  length,  and  provide 
training  in  communication  engineering,  in  either  re- 
search development  or  design.     At  the  present  time, 
there  are  170  enrolled  in  these  courses.     During  their 
training  period  in  the  research  laboratories  and  de- 
signing drafting  rooms,  their  work  is  carefully  super- 
vised  to   insure   the   widest   variety   of   experience 
possible.     These    boys,    coming    fresh    from    school 
without  any  experience,  are  started  at  $15  per  week. 
Readjustments  of  wages  thereafter  are  considered  in- 
dividually, based  on  the  record  and  ability  of  the 
student  concerned.     While  the  practical  work  in  the 
laboratories  already  mentioned  is  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance, it  alone  would  not  make  future  engineers 
of  the  caliber  which  the  course  is  designed  to  produce. 
A  veritable  junior  engineering  college  has  been  estab- 
lished, with  instruction  extending  through  ten  months 
of  the  year,  beginning  in  October  and  divided  into 
four  periods.     Standard  engineering  text  books  are 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       43 

used,  and  judging  by  the  application  and  evident 
enthusiasm  of  the  students  enrolled,  coupled  with  the 
ability  of  the  staff  of  six  full-time  specialists,  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  the  instruction  is  equal  in  quality 
to  regular  university  engineering  instruction,  and 
perhaps  superior  to  most  in  this  specialized 
field. 

A  summary  of  the  course  of  study  follows: 

First  Year. — Mathematics,  as  "  a  method  of  ex- 
pression and  interpreting  the  laws  of  natural  phenom- 
ena," in  which  " Algebra,  Geometry,  and  Trigonom- 
etry are  developed  as  one  subject."  Two  hours  per 
week  throughout  the  year. 

Physics. — Mechanics,  Sound,  Heat,  and  Light. 
Two  hours  per  week  throughout  the  year. 

Correlation  Problems,  as  far  as  possible  based  on 
the  work  in  the  Laboratories. 

Physics  Laboratory. — One  two-hour  period  per 
week. 

Drafting. — Individual  instruction  based  on  the 
ability  of  the  student.  Projection  and  dimensioning 
of  machine  parts,  both  with  instruments  and  free 
hand,  the  emphasis  being  on  the  principal  conven- 
tions in  telephone  practice.  One  two-hour  period 
per  week. 

Second  Year. — Calculus.  Two  hours  per  week 
during  the  first  and  second  terms. 

Physics. — Electricity  and  Magnetism.  Two  hours 
per  week  during  the  first  three  terms. 

Correlation  Problems,  illustrating  the  application 
of  Calculus  to  the  theory  of  electricity  and  magnetism. 

Laboratory. — One  two-hour  period  per  week  dur- 
ing the  first  three  terms. 


44  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Materials. — The  physical,  electrical,  and  magnetic 
properties  of  materials  used  in  telephone  and  tele- 
graph systems.  Three  hours  per  week  during  the 
fourth  term. 

Elements  of  Communication  Engineering. — Three 
hours  per  week  during  the  fourth  term. 

Third  Year. — (Laboratory  Course)  Communica- 
tion Engineering. — Three  hours  per  week  during  the 
entire  year. 

'     Economics. — Two  hours  per  week  during  the  first 
term. 

Use  of  Library  Facilities.  (Utilizing  the  excellent 
technical  library  provided  in  the  plant). — One  hour 
per  week  during  the  first  term. 

Engineering  English. — Two  hours  per  week  during 
the  second  term. 

Business  Law. — One  hour  per  week  during  the  sec- 
ond term. 

Business  Organization  and  Accountancy. — Two 
hours  per  week  during  the  third  term. 

Civics.—"  Studied  so  that  each  student  may  realize 
that  every  engineer  is  a  citizen  and  has  his  part  to 
play  in  the  municipal,  state,  and  national  govern- 
ments." One  hour  per  week  during  the  third  term. 

Third  Year  (Drafting  and  Design  Course)  De- 
sign.— Present  telephone  and  telegraph  equipment 
and  more  thoroughly  the  properties  of  materials. 
Elements  of  Mechanism,  supplemented  with  a  his- 
torical treatment  of  the  development  of  manufactur- 
ing processes  and  the  influence  of  quantity  produc- 
tion on  physical  design.  This  replaces  Communica- 
tion Engineering  outlined  above,  but  otherwise  the 
courses  are  identical. 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       45 

Training  Telephone  Installers. — Another  interest- 
ing feature  of  the  educational  program* of  this  Com- 
pany is  their  excellent  example  of  intensive  training 
of  recruits  for  the  installation  of  telephone  apparatus 
and  equipment.  As  the  Company  is  unable  to  secure 
competent  men  to  install  its  equipment,  it  has  been 
found  necessary  to  plan  an  intensive  training  program 
to  meet  this  need.  As  its  service  is  nation-wide 
these  training  schools  are  located  in  the  larger  cities 
central  to  the  districts  served.  There  applicants  are 
interviewed  and  physical  examinations  arranged  for, 
and,  if  hired,  a  two-weeks'  intensive  training  course 
is  provided.  The  first  training  school  of  this  kind 
was  established  in  June,  1916,  in  New  York  City, 
and  it  proved  so  successful  that  similar  schools  were 
later  established  in  Philadelphia,  Pittsburgh,  Cleve- 
land, Chicago  and  St.  Louis.  The  twelve  days'  train- 
ing consists  of  the  simplest  and  most  common  opera- 
tions, such  as  sewing  cables  to  cable  racks,  stripping, 
butting,  waxing,  forming  cable  ends  and  the  connect- 
ing of  cable  ends  to  terminal  blocks.  At  the  end  of 
the  two  weeks'  training,  the  finished  product  of  each 
student  is  required  to  pass  inspection  before  the  stu- 
dent is  transferred  to  the  field  on  a  permanent  job. 
They  are  paid  while  being  trained.  In  the  first 
fourteen  months  of  its  existence,  the  schools  accepted 
for  training  3,351  new  men.  Of  this  number  2,505, 
or  74  per  cent,  graduated  and  were  distributed  to  the 
various  points  for  employment.  More  recently,  there 
has  been  established  a  supplementary  course  which 
offers  an  excellent  example  of  upgrading  of  employees 
in  specialized  fields.  It  also  is  two  weeks  in  length 
and  provides  elementary  instruction  in  telephone 


46  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

theory  and  circuit  practice.  This  course  is  given  to 
selected  employees  in  the  Installation  Department 
who  have  been  in  the  Company's  employ  one  year  or 
more.  The  idea  is  to  broaden  the  installers'  knowl- 
edge of  the  general  action  of  electrical  current  as  ap- 
plied in  modern  telephone  central  offices,  as  well 
as  to  select  supervisors  and  instructors  for  new  em- 
ployees. 

Training  Machine  Operators. — There  is  also  an 
intensive  training  course  provided  for  machine  opera- 
tors in  the  Operating  Branch  of  the  Manufacturing 
Department.  Assisting  each  foreman,  there  is  a 
skilled  worker  who  is  assigned  as  an  instructor.  He 
takes  the  new  worker  and  trains  him  in  the  operation 
of  his  machine  until  he  has  become  capable  of  earning 
a  minimum  piece-rate  wage.  The  instructor  is  per- 
sonally responsible  that  the  operator  secures  this 
wage  within  a  certain  specified  time.  Supplement- 
ing this  training  "  on  the  job,"  there  are  lectures  and 
demonstrations  provided,  where  the  worker  is  given  a 
broader  knowledge  of  the  Company's  business  and  its 
products.  This  training  enables  the  worker  to  become 
a  piece-rate  worker  much  quicker  than  he  could 
under  the  old  system. 

Training  of  College  Men. — It  has  been  the  Com- 
pany's policy,  ever  since  it  started,  to  take  into  its 
organization  each  year  a  number  of  graduates  from 
representative  universities.  A  large  per  cent  of  the 
present-day  executives  came  into  the  organization 
fresh  from  college.  The  course  of  instruction  usually 
covers  about  one  year.  During  this  period,  the  stu- 
dent follows  a  training  schedule  which  has  been  laid 
out  with  considerable  thought.  It  aims  to  give  the 


THE  ELECTRICAL   MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       47 

student  a  combination  of  experience  in  the  different 
departments,  so  that  when  he  completes  his  training 
it  will  be  possible  to  assign  him  to  some  job  in  the 
organization.  There  are  four  courses  open  to  college 
men,  namely,  the  Manufacturing  Course,  the  Engi- 
neering Course,  the  Commercial  Course,  and  the 
International  Western  Electric  Course.  The  amount 
of  time  that  will  be  required  for  training  depends 
largely  upon  the  previous  experience  of  the  applicant 
and  the  type  of  work  for  which  he  is  to  be  fitted. 
Before  taking  up  the  regular  training  schedule,  the 
student  is  taken  on  inspection  trips  throughout  the 
plant,  followed  later  by  assigned  reading  courses  de- 
scribing the  activities  of  the  Company.  The  Manufac- 
turing schedule  is  primarily  planned  to  provide  tech- 
nical men  and  supervisors  for  the  different  branches  of 
that  department.  The  Engineering  schedule  trains 
men  as  technical  experts.  The  Commercial  schedule 
is  modified  somewhat  from  the  Engineering  and  Manu- 
facturing in  that  the  first  six  months  the  student 
works  in  some  Distributing  House,  familiarizing  him- 
self with  the  Company's  business.  Later  he  is  sent 
to  the  Manufacturing  Plant  and  different  suppliers 
for  another  three  months.  After  he  completes  this 
training,  he  is  then  assigned  to  a  definite  job  in  the 
Distributing  House  from  which  he  came.  The  Inter- 
national Western  Electric  Company  provides  a  train- 
ing schedule  for  men  to  qualify  as  representatives  in 
foreign  countries.  This  schedule  calls  for  definite 
training  in  the  Manufacturing,  Distributing,  and  Com- 
mercial Departments.  It  also  provides  training  for 
technical  graduates  from  foreign  countries  who  come 
here  for  special  training.  At  the  present  time  they 


48  EMPLOYEE   TRAINING 

have  students  from  China,  Japan/  San  Salvador, 
Philippines,  France,  and  England.  These  students 
return  to  their  respective  countries  after  completing 
their  training. 

Voluntary  Evening  Classes. — Extension  evening 
instruction  has  been  highly  developed  and  encouraged 
by  the  Company  in  all  of  its  departments.  The  Edu- 
cation Department  states  that  it  is  not  their  intention 
to  duplicate  the  evening  class  instruction  given  by  the 
public  school  system  or  by  philanthropic  organiza- 
tions. The  policy  of  the  Company  is  simply  to  bring 
to  the  assistance  of  ambitious  employees  the  oppor- 
tunity of  educational  guidance  by  the  highly  trained 
corps  of  engineers  and  other  specialists  employed  in 
the  fields  that  are  covered  only  by  this  Company's 
activities.  The  Company's  evening  classes  are  usually 
held  at  a  time  directly  after  working  hours  most  con- 
venient to  those  concerned.  In  the  Hawthorne  Plant 
they  have  been  conducting  evening  schools  for  a  long 
time  with  considerable  success.  The  classes  are  held 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Hawthorne  Club,  an  organi- 
zation formed  from  the  employees  of  the  Company. 
The  first  classes  were  organized  in  1913  and  have  in- 
creased both  in  attendance  and  popularity  ever  since. 
The  instruction  is  given  by  employees  selected  from 
the  different  departments.  Upon  the  satisfactory 
completion  of  given  courses,  certificates  are  issued. 
During  the  first  five  years,  1,060  certificates  were 
issued  for  completed  courses,  of  which  207  covered 
work  in  more  than  one  course.  The  enrollment  dur- 
ing the  past  year  has  been  well  over  1,000. 

During  1918-1919  the  following  courses  were  pro- 
vided: 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY       49 

I.  Electricity  and  Magnetism,  with  the  course  divided  into  two 

grades  of  two  terms  each. 

II.  Telephone  Practice,  consisting  of  three  grades  of  two  terms 
each. 

III.  Practical  Mathematics,  with  seven  grades  of  instruction. 

IV.  Manufacturing    Principles,    with    a    one    year's    course    of 

lectures  illustrated  by  stereopticon  slides. 
V.  Mechanical  Drawing,  with  seven  grades  of  instruction. 
VI.  English,  with  two  regular  grade  courses  and  a  special  course 
designed  especially  for  stenographers  and  typists  in  the 
typewriting  course. 

VII.  Typewriting,  with  a  year's  course. 
VIII.  Sewing,  also  with  a  year's  course. 

IX.  Production  Principles,  intended  to  present  the  commercial 
features  of  manufacturing  similar  to  the  technical  features 
in  Course  IV.  This  is  a  one  year's  course. 

A  study  of  this  program  shows  how  closely  the 
work  in  the  evening  school  fits  into  the  everyday  job 
of  the  employee. 

The  Company  has  also  closely  co-operated  with  out- 
side educational  agencies,  and  encourages  enrollment 
wherever  the  employee  may  find  instruction  best 
fitted  to  his  needs.  Records  are  kept  of  the  progress 
that  is  made  in  the  evening  schools,  and  given  con- 
sideration at  the  time  of  the  employee's  advancement. 

In  the  Engineering  Department  in  New  York  City, 
there  have  this  year  been  provided  twelve  courses. 
These  classes  are  held  after  business  hours,  between 
5  and  8  P.M.  There  are  two  terms  of  twelve  weeks 
each.  The  only  cost  to  the  student  is  that  of  the 
required  text  books  and  writing  material.  The  in- 
structors are  largely  selected  from  the  staff  of  the 
Engineering  Department  and  serve  without  extra 
compensation.  The  endeavor  is  said  to  be  to  make 
the  quality  of  instruction  in  every  respect  equal  to 
that  of  a  university  engineering  faculty. 


50  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

The  following  courses  were  scheduled : 

I.  Circuit  Applications  of  Electricity  and  Magnetism. 
II.  Telephone  Equipment  and  Systems. 

III.  Telephone  Instruments. 

IV.  Telephone  Transmission. 

V.  Elements  of  Alternating  Current  Theory. 
VI.  Theory  of  Electricity. 
VII.  Differential  Equations. 
VIII.  Design. 
IX.  Shop  Mathematics. 
X.  Mechanical  Drawing. 
XI.  Engineering  Accountancy  Methods. 
XII.  Shop  Reading  Course. 

It  is  believed  that  the  mere  statement  of  the  title 
of  the  courses,  as  above,  will  show  that  opportunity 
is  being  offered  for  improvement  to  all  classes  of  em- 
ployees, from  the  university  trained  man  down  to  the 
office  boy.  It  is  also  apparent  that  such  courses, 
conducted  by  engineers  of  the  Company,  can  be  more 
closely  related  to  the  daily  activities  of  the  students 
than  similar  courses  conducted  by  outside  institutions. 
That  such  was  the  case  is  to  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  there  was  a  registration  of  507  out  of  approxi- 
mately 3,000  employees.  The  Company  can  also 
exert  a  reasonable  restriction  as  to  enrollment  to  those 
qualified  and  likely  to  benefit  most,  as  compared  to 
public  evening  schools,  which  ordinarily  accept  all 
applicants  indiscriminately. 

In  the  general  or  accounting  departments  in  New 
York  City,  voluntary  evening  classes  are  also  being 
conducted.  The  courses  include: 

a.  Advanced  Accounting  Methods. 

b.  Elementary  Accounting  Practices. 

c.  Commercial  Practices  and  Procedure. 

d.  Commercial  English. 

e.  Electrical  Supplies. 
/.   Spanish. 


THE  ELECTRICAL  MANUFACTURING   INDUSTRY       51 

These  courses  are  planned  to  supplement  the  work 
of  the  employees  upon  their  everyday  job,  and  to  give 
them  a  broader  knowledge  of  the  Company's  busi- 
ness as  a  whole.  Likewise,  similar  classes  and  dis- 
cussion groups  are  held  in  some  of  the  Distributing 
Houses  located  in  different  sections  of  the  country. 
These  discussions  are  usually  combined  with  some 
social  function  and  have  proven  of  considerable  in- 
terest to  employees.  Many  times  they  are  supple- 
mented by  moving  pictures  describing  the  Manu- 
facturing and  Distributing  organizations. 

The  Administration  of  the  Educational  Activities. — 
To  adequately  administer  these  varied  educational 
activities  requires  a  large  staff.  In  each  general  de- 
partment there  are  people  definitely  assigned  for  this 
particular  work.  In  the  Manufacturing  Department, 
the  Works  Training  Division  has  charge  of  the  train- 
ing of  college  graduates,  apprentices,  and  high  school 
graduates  pursuing  special  training  courses. 

The  Production,  Operating,  Technical,  and  Instal- 
lation Branches  each  have  specialists  in  training,  who 
supervise  the  work  in  their  respective  departments. 
In  the  Engineering  Department  the  training  work  is 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Personnel  Manager,  who 
is  responsible  for  both  the  recruiting  and  training  of 
the  technical  workers  in  the  Laboratories.  In  the 
Commercial  organization  and  International  Western 
Electric  Company  there  is  also  a  staff  of  specialists 
who  look  after  the  educational  work  in  the  Distribut- 
ing Houses  and  General  Departments. 

To  formulate  the  basic  educational  policy  for  the 
Company  as  a  whole  there  is  a  central  Committee 
composed  of  representatives  from  the  different  De- 


52  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

partments.  The  membership  of  this  Committee  «is 
appointed  by  the  First  Vice-President  of  the  Company 
to  whom  the  Committee  chairman  is  directly  respon- 
sible. This  Committee  also  acts  as  a  "  clearing 
house  "  for  newer  ideas  along  training  lines,  and  other 
questions  affecting  the  personnel  of  the  organization. 


CHAPTER  II 

PROGRAMS  IN  THE  RUBBER  AND 
AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES 

BOTH  the  rubber  and  automobile  industries  have, 
in  general,  adopted  systems  of  standardized  produc- 
tion. This  system  makes  practicable  the  develop- 
ment of  large  plants  and,  if  a  popular  product  is  pro- 
duced, encourages  a  tremendous  expansion  of  the 
manufacturing  company.  These  phenomena  have 
been  particularly  marked  in  the  companies  under 
consideration. 

Training  and  education  programs  are  most  fre- 
quently found  and  most  developed  in  rapidly  growing 
companies.  One  reason  is  apparent.  There  is  a  con- 
stant demand  for  additions  to  the  supervisory  force, 
for  more  skilled  workers,  as  well  as  for  competent 
skill  at  the  specialties  found  in  the  plants.  All  this 
urges  various  types  of  training. 

It  should  also  be  remarked  that  the  plants  here 
considered  have  enjoyed  unusual  prosperity.  It 
is  doubtful  if  a  company  barely  existing  could  be  pre- 
vailed upon  to  introduce  an  expensive  system  of  train- 
ing. Educational  work  by  a  company  is  usually  de- 
fended in  directors'  meetings,  much  as  is  turning 
profits  back  into  the  business.  The  practice  is  ex- 
pected to  show  increased  income  during  the  following 

53 


54  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

and  succeeding  years  by  improved  personnel  and, 
certainly,  the  system  can  only  be  defended  on  that 
ground  to  the  company's  owners. 

It  is  not  believed  that  the  programs  here  repro- 
duced are  altogether  typical.  It  is  probable  that  not 
even  the  most  prosperous  and  most  rapidly  expanding 
corporations  will  in  general  feel  warranted  in  estab- 
lishing great  educational  institutions  for  their  em- 
ployees. It  should,  however,  be  noted  that  all  in- 
struction provided  by  these  corporations,  such  as 
apprentice  training  and  other  educational  provisions, 
are  intended  to  have  direct  effect  on  the  efficiency  of 
the  employees  and  in  some  measure  the  present  pros- 
perity of  the  respective  companies  is,  no  doubt,  due 
to  the  good  will  existing  between  workmen  and 
management  which  has  to  some  extent  been  fostered 
by  these  educational  provisions. 


No.  5 

GOODYEAR  TIRE  AND  RUBBER  COMPANY, 
AKRON,  OHIO 

In  an  address  before  the  foremen  of  the  company 
on  November  1,  1919,  the  Factory  Manager  made 
this  statement: 

"The  big  development  of  the  last  fifty  years  in  industry  has  been 
the  development  of  machines.  Today,  as  a  result,  we  think  too 
much  of  machines  and  too  little  of  men.  The  day  has  come  when 
machinery  is  almost  universal.  Today  it  is  not  the  industry  which 
has  the  best  machinery  that  wins.  It  is  the  industry  which  has 
the  best  men  and  trains  its  men  best  to  run  these  machines  effi- 
ciently, which  wins.  The  keynote  of  success  is  men,  not  machines." 


THE  RUBBER  AND  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES       55 

The  whole  policy  of  this  company  seems  to  be 
epitomized  in  that  paragraph.  To  achieve  the  object 
of  getting  the  best  men,  all  the  activities  of  the  Labor 
Division  should  be  considered:  employment,  recrea- 
tion, service,  safety  and  health,  mutual  relief  and  in- 
surance, and  industrial  representation.  We  are  here 
concerned,  however,  only  with  the  Educational  Work 
as  the  method  of  direct  action  toward  obtaining  the 
personnel  desired. 

How  extensive  is  the  educational  work  may  be 
appreciated  from  the  fact  that,  among  a  working 
force  of  34,000,  there  are  6,100  taking  some  form  of 
instruction,  and  that  a  staff  of  112  full  time  instruct- 
ors is  required.  From  another  angle  the  extent  of  the 
work  may  be  gauged  when  it  is  stated  that  the  annual 
budget  for  the  coming  year  of  the  Educational  De- 
partment, including  physical  education  and  recre- 
ation, is  three  quarters  of  a  million  dollars. 

The  management  looks  on  the  utilization  in  this 
manner  of  such  a  large  sum  as  an  investment  fully 
justified  if,  after  the  training  one-third  of  the  gradu- 
ates remain  with  the  company.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
their  records  show  that  two-thirds  of  those  who  have 
completed  regular  three-year  courses  continue  in  their 
employ  and  there  are  now  nearly  2,000  graduates  in 
the  plant. 

The  Service  Division  is  housed  in  the  magnificent 
six-story  building  known  as  Goodyear  Hall.  Here 
three  floors,  each  with  an  area  of  170  feet  by  400  feet 
are  given  over  to  the  Industrial  University,  which  is 
the  designation  given  to  all  supplementary  educa- 
tional work  in  the  plant.  Altogether  45  large  class 
rooms  are  provided.  These  include  3  well  equipped 


56  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

laboratories  for  physics,  chemistry,  and  rubber  prod- 
ucts respectively. 

Educational  provisions  may  be  conveniently  consid- 
ered under  these  five  headings:  (1)  "  The  Flying 
Squadron";  (2)  Apprenticeship;  (3)  Foreman  In- 
struction; (4)  Commercial  School;  and  (5)  Sales 
School.  There  is  also,  in  various  departments,  a 
corps  of  labor  training  instructors  with  their  own 
foremen,  a  system  which  is  being  extended  throughout 
the  plant. 

The  Flying  Squadron. — In  the  company's  house 
organ,  "  The  Wingfoot  Clan,"  on  April  15,  1913,  ap- 
peared the  following  editorial: 

"It  is  the  tendency  of  the  times  for  most  factories  to  develop 
among  the  workmen  specialists  who  are  skilled  in  a  single  operation. 
This  sometimes  throws  the  factory  out  of  balance,  because  there 
are  too  few  on  another  operation  which  is  dependent  on  the  first, 
with  no  skilled  hands  available  to  balance  the  production.  With 
a  view  to  overcoming  this  condition  to  some  extent,  we  have  insti- 
tuted in  The  Goodyear  Tire  and  Rubber  Company,  beginning 
April  15th,  a  body  of  fifty  men  which  will  be  known  as  the  '  Flying 
Squadron.'  These  men  will  be  selected  from  among  the  best 
workmen  now  on  the  various  operations  in  the  factory  and  they 
will  be  trained  not  on  one  particular  operation,  but  on  all  the  prin- 
cipal operations  in  the  factory,  becoming  general  experienced 
rubber  men.  Whenever  any  one  department  is  in  need  of  men  to 
balance  up  the  production,  as  many  of  the  Flying  Squadron  as  are 
necessary  will  be  put  on  the  work  needed,  to  keep  the  production 
uniform.  At  other  times,  these  men  will  be  changed  from  one 
operation  to  another,  making  piece-work  prices  on  the  operations 
on  which  they  work,  with  a  minimum  guaranteed  day  work  rate. 
These  men  will  be  trained  to  become  proficient  in  all  the  different 
operations  in  the  factory,  and  when  they  have  accomplished  this, 
will  be  given  a  certificate  as  "Master  Rubber  Worker."  The 
Flying  Squadron  will  have  preference  on  steady  work  in  the  factory. 
This  is  an  opportunity  for  a  broad  education  in  the  different  opera- 


THE   RUBBER  AND  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES       57 

tions  in  a  rubber  factory,  and  those  who  demonstrate  their  ability 
will  be  in  line  for  higher  positions." 

It  is  thus  seen  that  this  plan  for  all  around  training 
in  rubber  manufacture  has  been  in  operation  more 
than  seven  years,  giving  abundant  opportunity  to  test 
its  value.  That  the  number  thus  employed  has  in- 
creased from  50  to  1,200,  suggests  that  the  plan  seems 
sound  practice  to  the  management. 

The  routine  details  of  handling  the  scheme  seem 
simple.  For  the  first  three  to  six  months  after  a 
squadron  is  formed,  the  men  are  used  exclusively  for 
balancing  production.  In  other  words,  they  are  put 
wherever  they  happen  to  be  needed  most,  with  the 
only  care  that  they  do  not  stay  too  long  in  any  one 
department.  For  the  rest  of  the  year  some  atten- 
tion is  given  to  insuring  that  they  complete  the  cor- 
cuit  of  all  the  important  operations  in  the  business,  in 
order  that  full  utilization  may  be  made  of  their  varied 
experience  during  the  remaining  two  years  of  the 
course. 

Throughout  the  three  years'  course  class  instruc- 
tion is  always  provided  for  two  hours  a  week.  As 
some  10  per  cent  are  college  men  and  others  never 
finished  the  grades,  naturally,  this  has  to  be  varied 
somewhat  to  correspond  to  the  student's  capacity. 

It  is,  however,  of  the  same  general  nature  for  all. 
During  the  first  year  the  principal  instruction  is  in 
letter  and  report  writing  and  in  public  speaking  under 
what  is  called|  personal  salesmanship.  For  those  who 
have  not  had  enough  of  it,  mathematics  is  also  pro- 
vided. The  second  year's  class  work  is  found  mostly 
in  the  chemistry  and  economics  of  rubber  and  indus- 
trial management.  For  the  third  year  the  company's 


58  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

organization  and  management,  extending  to  general 
corporation  administration,  labor  management,  costs 
and  statistics,  with  additional  chemistry  and  public 
speaking,  rounds  out  the  course. 

It  is  stated  that  98  per  cent  of  those  who  have  com- 
pleted the  course  have  been  promoted  one  way  or  an- 
other, frequently  to  executive  positions.  It  is  prob- 
able that  this  is  the  most  useful  function  of  the  scheme 
and  really  justifies  considering  the  plan  as  education 
rather  than  merely  a  clever  scheme  of  managerial  in- 
genuity for  increasing  production. 

Other  claims  made  for  the  plan  by  the  factory 
manager  are: 

(1)  "It  has  produced  a  group  of  workmen  who,  to 
an    extraordinary    degree,    work    with    a   spirit    and 
breadth  of  vision,  and  their  attitude  of  enthusiasm  and 
co-operation  has  toned  up  the  whole  factory  organiza- 
tion." 

(2)  It  fosters  contentment  by  stopping  unfair  agita- 
tion.    A  squadron  man's  word  counts  against   the 
rumors  that  may  circulate  through  the  plant,  since 
he  has  first  hand  information  on  the  company's  busi- 
ness and  policy. 

(3)  Examples  are  set  the  other  men. — The  squadron 
men  are  picked  for  their  industry  as  well  as  other 
good  qualities,  and  working  as  they  do  at  the  same 
machines  and  at  the  same  scale  of  wages  as  the  ordi- 
nary operatives  of  the  department,  they  are  a  very 
wholesome   force   in   building   up   the   organization 
morale. 

(4)  It  checks  bad  practices. — At  the  weekly  meeting 
of  a  squadron,  members  are  encouraged  to  bring  up 
whatever  they  have  observed  which  can  be  improved. 


THE  RUBBER  AND   AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES       59 

As  they  actually  perform  the  work  rather  than  merely 
supervise,  they  frequently  can  report  what  inspectors 
and  foremen  often  overlook.  Also  they  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  able  to  compare  practice  in  every 
department,  so  that  often  by  this  means  a  clever  in- 
novation in  one  department  is  more  quickly  trans- 
ferred to  all  departments. 

(5)  They  aid  in  handling  new  production  prob- 
lems.— During  the  late  war  the  squadron  men,  by 
their  adaptability,  were  particularly  useful  in  quickly 
adjusting  from  customary  production  to  balloons, 
gas  masks,  and  other  war  supplies.  It  is  evident  that 
in  the  same  way  they  will  be  useful  in  adjusting  to 
new  peace  time  products  or  in  furnishing  the  nuclei 
for  a  new  factory  to  be  installed  in  a  foreign  country 
or  different  city. 

There  are  now  around  1,200  men  in  about  50  squad- 
rons showing  that  in  size  they  average  between  20  and 
30  men  to  a  squadron.  This  would  be  nearly  4  per 
cent  of  the  working  force  of  34,000  employees.  It  is 
stated  to  be  a  company  policy  to  increase  their  number 
until  they  form  10  per  cent  of  the  total  employed. 

Also  there  should  be  mentioned  the  350  men  in 
Engineering  Squadrons  which  are  made  up  of  tech- 
nical college  graduates  who  are  provided  experience 
upon  similar  principles.  Their  period  of  training  is  also 
three  years  in  length  and  when  graduated  they  are 
expected  to  recruit  the  engineering  staffs  of  the  plan- 
ning, production,  and  sales  departments. 

One  interested  in  the  revival  of  apprenticeship  will 
probably  be  struck  by  the  similarity  of  the  flying 
squadron  scheme  to  certain  types  of  apprentice  train- 
ing, especially  that  for  machinists  being  developed 


60  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

for  maintenance  or  production  work.-  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  outstanding  difference  seems  to  be  that  of 
age,  for  these  candidates  for  the  "  degree  "  of  Master 
Rubber  Worker  are  invariably  grown  men  although 
still  young,  while  the  almost  universal  practice  is  to 
require  that  apprentices  should  still  be  in  their  teens. 
The  reason  for  this  difference  is,  of  course,  that  it  is 
inadvisable  to  employ  minors  at  many  of  the  opera- 
tions which  squadron  men  are  expected  to  perform  in 
the  manufacture  of  rubber  products.  This  age  dis- 
tinction is  recognized  in  the  selection  of  apprentices 
for  the  mechanical  department,  which  we  shall  now 
consider. 

Apprentice  Training. — The  soundness  of  a  policy  of 
training  minors  through  a  definite  period  for  certain 
types  of  skilled  mechanical  employment  or,  in  other 
words,  apprenticeship,  has  likewise  been  recognized 
by  this  company. 

At  present  we  find  the  following  enrollment  of  ap- 
prentices in  the  plant : 

Machinists 54 

Electricians 14 

Plumbers 17 

Carpenters 9 

Draftsmen .  11 

Total 105 

The  ordinary  period  of  apprenticeship,  as  arranged 
by  this  company,  is  three  years  and  the  usual  re- 
quirements are  made  that  the  applicant  shall  have 
completed  the  eighth  grade  and  be  between  16  and  18 
in  age. 

The  excellent  practice  of  apprentice  shops  separate 
from  those  for  regular  production  is  observed.  Also, 
the  recognition  that  thoroughgoing  training  for  the 


THE  RUBBER  AND  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES       61 

skilled  trades  requires  strong  technical  and  general 
educational  preparation,  is  met  by  giving  two  hours 
to  school  from  each  eight-hour  day,  leaving  six  hours 
for  productive  work.  There  are  also  two  hours  a  week 
provided  for  gymnasium  recreation.  Furthermore,  the 
company  has  recognized  that  the  selected  individuals 
desirable  in  this  field  should  be  attracted  by  a  superior 
wage,  and  $6  a  day  has  been  established  as  the  uni- 
form rate  of  pay  during  apprenticeship. 

As  it  is  recognized  that  there  will  be  an  outlet  for 
many  of  their  machinist  apprentices  in  machine  de- 
sign, the  instructor  in  mathematics  does  not  stop  with 
the  limited  arithmetic  and  trigonometry  required  in 
ordinary  machine  shop  practice,  but  extends  the  in- 
struction through  the  whole  gamut  of  computation 
to  calculus.  The  educational  course  in  addition  to 
this  thorough  mathematical  course  embraces  mechan- 
ical drawing,  machine  design,  and  shop  notes. 

The  Industrial  University. — It  is  evident  that  a 
considerable  teaching  force  is  required  for  the  two 
hours  of  weekly  instruction  for  the  40  flying  squadrons, 
the  350  technical  men  in  the  engineering  squadrons, 
and  the  ten  hours  per  week  of  instruction  for  the  105 
apprentices.  But  aside  from  these  over  4,400  others 
are  receiving  instruction  of  various  kinds.  This  may 
be  special  classes  in  Factory  Practice  and  Manage- 
ment or  other  educational  work  for  foremen  and  in- 
spectors. It  may  be  one  of  the  four  months'  office 
work  training  courses  for  recruits  to  the  offices.  It 
may  be  special  provision  of  instruction  by  the  screen 
for  the  750  deaf  mutes  who  are  a  distinguishing  fea- 
ture of  the  personnel  of  the  plant  and  upon  whom,  of 
course,  vocal  instruction  would  be  wasted. 


62  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Such  subjects  as  Business  Arithmetic,  Business 
English,  Organization  and  Management,  Economics, 
Modern  Business  Methods,  Business  Law  and  Cor- 
poration Finance,  Public  Speaking,  Mechanical  Draw- 
ing, Mechanics,  Shop  Mathematics,  Electricity,  Rub- 
ber Manufacturing  Practice,  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
are  taught. 

It  will  be  noted  that  each  subject  has  a  practical 
bearing  on  the  work  of  the  company  and  in  every  case 
it  is  so  intended.  There  is  a  very  decided  effort  to 
prevent  multiplying  courses  merely  to  satisfy  the 
whims  of  various  applicants.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
is  expected  that  each  course  taken  will  ultimately,  if 
not  immediately,  aid  in  the  advancement  of  the  one 
enrolling,  although  there  is,  of  course,  no  guarantee 
of  that  result.  Thus,  French  was  not  offered  until  it 
was  foreseen  that  a  subsidiary  plant  would  in  the 
near  future  be  erected  in  France,  and  it  was  advisable 
for  some  employees  to  equip  themselves  for  a  pro- 
motion by  transfer  to  the  new  enterprise. 

Classes  are  so  planned  as  to  be  most  convenient  in 
adjustment  to  the  eight  hour  shifts  in  which  the  men 
work.  Thus,  whether  a  man  works  on  the  day,  even- 
ing, or  midnight  to  early  morning  tour,  he  can  enter 
a  class  which  does  not  interfere  with  his  work. 

Not  the  least  important  element  of  the  work  of  the 
Industrial  University  is  that  among  alien  workers. 
Careful  records  are  kept  of  the  number  in  this  cate- 
gory, and  at  present  96  per  cent  of  all  employees  are 
American  citizens.  Out  of  the  remaining  1,200  odd 
foreign  employees  of  the  company,  300  received  in- 
struction in  English  and  assistance  in  naturalization. 
It  will  be  seen  that  this  is  about  one-fourth  of  the 


THE  RUBBER  AND  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES       63 

number  possible,  which  is  a  very  creditable  showing, 
since  it  should  be  recognized  that  only  the  younger 
men  will  greatly  benefit.  The  effort  is  made  to  make 
the  instruction  thorough,  including  reading,  writing, 
and  speaking  in  order  that  they  may  come  to  think 
in  our  language. 

No.  6 
FORD  MOTOR  Co.,  DETROIT,  MICH. 

The  Ford  Motor  Company  has  four  well  developed 
schools  worthy  of  study  by  those  who  would  intro- 
duce training  into  industry,  and  are  this  year  inaugu- 
rating a  fifth.  They  are:  (1)  an  Apprentice  School; 
(2)  a  Trade  School  for  Boys;  (3)  a  Technical  Insti- 
tute; (4)  a  Service  School,  and  (5)  the  English 
School  for  Foreigners. 

(1)  The  Apprentice  School. — Among  the  55,000 
men  employed  in  their  Detroit  plant  the  company  is 
utilizing  at  present  about  3,500  tool  and  diemakers 
and  1,200  machine  repairmen.  To  recruit  this  force 
organized  apprenticeship  was  instituted  three  years 
ago,  and  there  are  now  tQO_apprentices  to  the  tool- 
makers'  and  diemakers'  trades  and  300  machinists' 
apprentices  for  the  maintenance  work.  It  is  thus  seen 
that  a  ratio  of  one  apprentice  to  five  journeymen  is 
being  maintained  in  the  first  group  and  one  to  four  in 
the  second  group. 

The  wisdom  of  the  differentiation  between  the  train- 
ing of  toolmakers  and  maintenance  machinists  is  ap- 
parent to  those  familiar  with  machine  production. 
Certainly,  a  good  toolmaker  should  do  satisfactory 
repair  work,  but  in  his  experience  the  highest  refine- 


64  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

ment  of  precision  in  measurement  is  constantly  de- 
manded, while  the  repairman  needs  an  extremely 
varied  experience  in  locating  machine  troubles  and 
in  quickly  building  duplicates  for  the  broken  parts. 
Both  are,  of  course,  all  around  machinists,  but  the 
toolmaker  reduces  the  refinement  in  measurement  to 
an  art  which  is  unnecessary  in  the  repair  department. 

Apprenticeship  is  organized  in  each  tool  department 
under  a  general  foreman  for  apprentices  who  oversees 
the  placement  of  apprentices  at  all  types  of  machines, 
so  that  an  all  around  experience  will  be  gained. 

Entrance  requirements  are  the  completion  of  the 
eighth  grade  and  the  stipulation  that  the  applicant 
must  have  been  employed  by  the  company  at  least 
six  months,  which  offers  an  opportunity  to  observe 
the  working  qualities  of  the  applicant.  Of  course, 
this  is  ordinarily  at  regular  production  on  a  single 
machine  and  many  are  weeded  out  as  unsteady  or 
otherwise  lacking  in  the  mental  and  moral  traits  de- 
sirable in  what  are  to  be  considered  as  selected  work- 
men. Also,  some  find  in  these  easily  learned  machine 
operations  work  more  to  their  liking  than  the  skilled 
trades  and  are  unwilling  to  leave  it  for  the  training 
course.  However,  there  were  said  to  be  several 
hundred  constantly  on  the  waiting  list. 

To  supplement  the  varied  experience  already  men- 
tioned, which  is,  of  course,  the  main  source  of  train- 
ing, two  class  periods  of  one  and  one-half  hours  each  per 
week  are  provided,  one  in  drawing  and  sketching  and 
the  other  in  shop  arithmetic  and  mechanics.  These 
classes  come  directly  after  work,  if  the  men  are  on 
the  day  shift ;  or  directly  before  work,  if  they  are  em- 
ployed at  night. 


THE  RUBBER  AND  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES        65 

• 

For  this  instruction  a  unique  series  of  lesson  sheets 
have  been  developed  in  which  the  problems  have  in- 
variably been  drawn  from  actual  machines.  In  each 
case  a  sketch  is  shown  of  the  mechanism  to  be  studied. 
The  problem  is  thus  associated  with  its  application 
when  a  solution  has  been  deduced.  The  course  was 
first  prepared  on  mimeographed  sheets  and  after  a 
practical  try  out,  has  been  printed  in  a  small  book. 
Of  course,  there  are  now  many  excellent  shop  texts  on 
the  market.  This  course  may  or  may  not  be  superior 
for  instructional  purposes,  but  certainly  should  be 
considered  for  the  variety  of  concrete  problems  pro- 
vided. 

The  pay  of  these  apprentices  starts  at  $6  a  day  for 
the  first  year,  and  increases  40  cents  a  day  each  year 
until  a  final  rate  of  $7.20  is  reached  for  the  fourth 
year.  It  should,  however,  be  stated  that  while  the 
course  is  laid  out  for  four  years,  it  may  be  completed 
by  those  with  unusual  capacity  and  application  in 
three  years,  when  regular  journeymen's  pay  is  granted. 

(2)  The  Trade  School.— The  trade  school  provided 
by  this  company  offers  a  highly  interesting  example 
of  the  possibilities  of  the  vocational  industrial  school 
closely  linked  to  an  industry.  The  plan  is  briefly 
this :  A  large  training  shop  has  been  fitted  up  with  all 
the  standard  machine  tools  sufficient  for  200  to  be 
employed  at  the  same  time,  and  a  schoolhouse  con- 
tiguous to  the  plant,  amply  supplied  with  classrooms 
and  now  equipped  with  science  laboratories,  is  utilized 
for  school  instruction  on  the  basis  of  one  week  in  school 
to  two  in  the  shop.  Boys  aged  12  to  18  are  accepted 
on  the  basis  of  financial  need  rather  than  scholarly 
attainment.  There  are  now  300  in  attendance  and 


66  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

80  per  cent  were  said  to  have  come  from  homes  where 
their  earnings  were  necessary  for  the  family's  sup- 
port, due  to  the  death  of  either  father  or  mother  and 
in  some  cases  of  both.  There  is  also  a  small  number 
who  have  been  turned  over  to  the  school  by  the  local 
correctional  officers  as  there  receiving  instruction  and 
discipline  more  likely  to  encourage  them  to  become 
good  and  useful  citizens  than  in  the  regular  public 
schools.  And  in  most  cases  the  plan  seems  to  be  suc- 
cessful. 

Owing  to  the  co-operation  of  the  plant's  manage- 
ment, an  ample  supply  of  standard  production  jobs  is 
secured,  so  that  the  boys  start  at  an  hourly  wage  of 
19  cents  an  hour  for  a  forty-eight  hour  week  with  pay 
for  the  fourteen  weeks  in  school,  all  holidays,  and  a 
three  weeks'  vacation  during  the  summer. 

Nineteen  cents  is,  however,  only  the  starting  rate. 
Each  month  the  boy  is  graded  on  his  attitude  toward 
his  work, — his  conduct,  interest  in  his  work,  regularity, 
and  quality  of  his  school  work;  not  upon  the  quantity 
of  his  production.  A  is  excellent,  B  is  good,  C,  fair, 
and  D,  poor.  Each  month  a  report  is  made  on  a  boy's 
shop  and  school  work,  and  if  his  rating  is  B  or  better, 
his  pay  is  increased  one  cent  per  hour  for  the  following 
month;  if  C,  it  remains  unchanged;  and  if  D,  it  is 
reduced  one  cent.  On  this  basis  a  boy  may  in  his  last 
year  be  earning  as  much  as  45  to  50  cents  an  hour. 

In  addition  to  encourage  thrift  each  boy  is  paid  $2 
a  month  which  he  is  expected  personally  to  deposit  in 
a  savings  account  and  allow  to  accumulate  until  he 
is  18  and  graduates.  The  only  control  exercised  is 
that  if  he  fails  to  make  these  deposits  without  previous 
approval  this  special  payment  forthwith  ceases. 


THE  RUBBER  AND  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES       67 

The  school  is  amply  supplied  with  an  instructing 
staff,  having  12  shop  instructors,  6  school  instructors 
and  2  for  personal  supervision. 

In  spite  of  these  generous  provisions  of  pay  to  the 
boys  and  for  their  instruction,  the  school  is  a  little 
more  than  self  maintaining,  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
balance  sheet,  taking  the  month  of  May,  1920,  as  an 
example. 

Gross  revenues $22,659.25 

Less  expenses 14,363 . 17 


Balance $8,296.08 

When  one  considers  the  upkeep  and  depreciation  of 
the  half -million-dollar  plant  involved,  this  is,  of  course, 
but  a  reasonable  balance.  It  should  be  compared  with 
the  maintenance  cost  of  every  other  vocational  school 
throughout  the  country,  none  of  which  pay  their 
students  one  cent  of  wages. 

Considering  the  school  wholly  from  the  standpoint 
of  its  educational  possibilities  for  the  boys  concerned, 
we  may  agree  that  the  students  are  getting  a  better 
opportunity  than  would  otherwise  be  open  to  them. 
On  the  academic  side  their  education  is  continued 
much  as  it  would  be  in  the  public  school  until  the 
eighth  grade  is  completed.  After  that,  the  subject- 
matter  is  "  drawing,  mathematics,  physics  or  mechan- 
ics, a  little  metallurgy  and  chemistry  such  as  mechan- 
ics and  good  toolmakers  should  know."  One  should 
recognize  that  this  education  is  continued  up  to  the 
boy's  eighteenth  year,  whereas,  probably,  without  the 
school,  it  would  be  terminated  just  as  soon  as  working 
papers  could  be  secured. 


68  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

It  is  also  worth  noting  that  this  year  the  course  is 
being  extended  by  the  introduction  of  what  may  be 
called  the  social-civic  studies,  i.e.,  economics  and 
civics,  and  thus  beyond  the  elementary  school  prepares 
for  citizenship  as  well  as  for  strictly  vocational  ends. 

As  far  as  the  toolmaker's  trade  can  be  learned  be- 
fore the  eighteenth  birthday,  an  opportunity  would 
here  seem  to  be  provided  and  the  instruction  may  be 
completed  by  transferring  to  apprenticeship  on  reach- 
ing eighteen,  when  full  credit  will  be  given  for  so  much 
as  has  been  completed. 

It  is  believed,  however,  that  economic  stress  rather 
than  educational  considerations  justifies  the  admission 
of  boys  under  fourteen.  There  are  no  apparent  dis- 
astrous effects  on  the  boys'  health.  In  fact,  it  is  prob- 
able that,  owing  to  the  work  provided,  many  of  the 
boys  are  better  nourished  than  they  would  otherwise 
be.  Also,  their  physical  well-being  seems  to  be  con- 
sidered in  instituting  a  free  hot  lunch  each  day  and  in 
the  generous  provision  of  a  playground  with  ample 
opportunity  for  its  use  under  instruction,  as  one  hour 
a  day  is  set  aside  for  this  purpose,  leaving  forty-two 
for  instruction  during  the  study  week. 

(3)  The  Technical  Institute.— The  Ford  Company 
is  also  inaugurating  a  plan  for  training  at  least  a  part 
of  their  own  engineers.  This  is  to  be  through  the 
opening  this  fall  of  the  Ford  Technical  Institute,  "  an 
institution  of  university  rank  which  will  grant  degrees 
in  Mechanical,  Electrical,  and  Chemical  Engineering. 
Complete  courses  will  be  offered  in  the  academic  de- 
partments and  the  laboratories  at  the  disposal  of  the 
students  will  include  the  Highland  Park  Plant,  the 
Tractor  Plant  at  Dearborn,  the  great  Blast  Furnace 


THE  RUBBER  AND  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES       69 

at  the  River  Rouge,  a  railroad,  a  mine,  a  lumber 
camp,  and  many  subsidiary  operations.  These  cover 
every  phase  of  engineering,  not  by  a  meager  equip- 
ment for  demonstration  and  experimental  purposes 
but  by  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  machinery  and 
apparatus,  all  the  last  word  in  scientific  develop- 
ment. 

"  The  whole  expense  will  be  borne  by  the  Ford 
Motor  Company,  no  fees  of  any  kind  being  charged 
students." 

Comment  must  of  course  be  reserved  until  the  in- 
stitution has  proved  its  worth  by  actual  operation, 
but  the  success  of  other  companies  in  thus  recruiting 
their  junior  technical  force  leads  one  to  indorse  the 
enterprise  as  worthy  of  hear'jy  encouragement. 

(4)  Service  School. — The  third  type  of  instruc- 
tion is  in  the  Service  or  Repair  School,  which  auto 
mechanics  from  all  parts  of  the  country  may  enter. 
The  course  is  five  weeks  in  length  and  120  men  are 
constantly  in  attendance.  This  would  thus  provide 
instruction  for  1,200  men  during  the  year,  if  we  assume 
that  there  are  10  separate  terms  during  the  year. 

For  this  period  $6  a  day  is  paid  the  students  by  the 
Ford  Company,  but  traveling  and  other  expenses 
must  be  borne  by  the  student,  unless  the  student's 
employer  sees  fit  to  meet  these  expenses. 

The  instruction  consists  of  a  complete  repair  course 
on  the  Ford  products;  car,  tractor,  etc.,  and  one 
lecture  a  day  followed  by  thirty  to  forty-five  minutes 
of  discussion.  These  lectures  seem  to  have  been  very 
carefully  worked  up  to  cover  all  parts  of  the  mechan- 
isms concerned  and  are,  of  course,  primarily  confined 
to  the  Ford  machines.  As  mimeographed  outlines 


70  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

are  furnished,  they  provide  for  further  review  when 
the  student  returns  to  the  garage  where  he  has  been 
employed. 

(5)  English  Classes  for  Foreigners. — The  Ford 
Company  have  been  pioneers  in  the  teaching  of  Eng- 
lish to  their  alien  employees.  Altogether,  16,000 
were  stated  to  have  graduated  from  their  classes  in 
the  six  years  in  which  instruction  has  been  given. 
The  enrollment  is  now  about  700  a  year.  Also,  there 
is  a  class  called  the  American  Club  with  about  100 
enrollment  in  which  the  instruction  is  primarily  di- 
rected toward  preparing  for  citizenship  and  the  pro- 
motion of  American  ideals. 


No.  7 
PACKARD  MOTOR  CAR  Co.,  DETROIT,  MICH. 

The  most  significant  educational  work  of  the 
Packard  Company  is  their  apprentice  training,  in 
which  122  young  men  are  enrolled.  There  are,  how- 
ever, in  addition  some  excellent  advanced  training 
courses  for  technical  graduates  in  which  21  men  are 
enrolled,  and  in  the  Truck  Department  there  is  a  three 
weeks'  Salesman's  School  through  which  about  20  are 
continually  passing. 

Apprentice  Training. — All  of  the  122  apprentices 
are  in  the  machinists'  trade  except  7  patternmakers 
and  6  electricians.  All,  however,  take  the  same  sup- 
plementary course  of  about  four  and  one-half  hours 
per  week  of  mathematics  and  mechanical  drawing. 
All  students  are  also  required  to  attend  the  city  night 


THE  RUBBER  AND  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES       71 

school,  when  it  is  in  session.  The  course  is  three 
years  in  length  and  during  the  third  year  the  best 
students  are  selected  for  transfer  to  the  toolmaker's 
shop  and  for  tool  designing.  The  number,  of  course, 
depends  on  the  demands  of  those  departments.  The 
trial  period  is  two  weeks  only  in  length. 

The  apprentices  are  in  charge  of  a  supervisor  who  is 
a  technical  graduate  with  extended  shop  experience. 
He  has  authority  to  arrange  transfers  of  apprentices 
about  the  shops  for  variety  of  experience  at  all  types 
of  machines.  He  is  assisted  in  the  school  instruction 
by  a  technical  graduate  for  the  drafting  classes.  , 

In  the  indenture  which  all  apprentices  must  sign 
with  their  parents,  the  apprentices  are  required  to 
deposit  $25  as  guarantee  of  good  faith,  to  complete 
the  apprentice  course.  This  is  returned  at  the  ex- 
piration of  the  apprenticeship  together  with  a  $100 
bonus.  The  rates  of  pay  for  the  six  six-months' 
periods  are  respectively:  30,  34,  38,  42,  46,  and  50 
cents  per  hour.  "  Graduates  of  the  Detroit  High 
Schools,  well  recommended  by  the  Principal,  may 
have  their  term  of  apprenticeship  shortened  at  the 
discretion  of  the  company." 

Technical  Graduates'  Courses. — Some  21  technical 
college  graduates  are  being  transferred  about  the 
plant  in  a  two-year  course  designed  to  give  them  the 
requisite  experience  for  ultimate  positions  as  execu- 
tives or  as  engineers.  Their  pay  starts  at  40  cents 
an  hour  for  the  fifty-hour  week  which  they  work,  the 
same  as  the  regular  production  force. 

The  outline  of  their  training  programs  follows. 
There  are  now  15  in  the  course  for  executives  and  5 
are  in  the  mechanical  engineer's  course. 


72  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

OUTLINE  OF  ADVANCED  TRAINING  COURSE  FOR  EXECUTIVES 

Weeks  Class  of  Work 

21  Machine  Shop  Practice 

4  (a)  Preliminary  Instructions 

3  (6)  Drill  Press 

4  (c)   Milling  Machine 
6  (d)  Lathe 

4  (e)   Gear  Cutting  and  Grinding 

4  Forge 

1  (a)  Stamping 

1  (6)  Drop  Forge 

2  (c)  Tools  and  Dies 

4  Foundry 

1  (a)  Wood  Pattern  Making 

1  (6)  Metal  Pattern  Making 

2  (c)   Moulding 

4  Inspection 

1  (a)  Rough  and  Finished 

1  (6)  Gauges  and  Tools 

2  (c)  Mat.  Test  and  Chem.  Lab. 

3  Hardening  and  Tempering 

6  Assembling 

3  (a)  Rear  Axle  and  Transmission 
3  (6)  Clutch  and  Motor 

4  Testing  Motor  and  Dynamometer 
4  Employment 

4  Factory  Routine 

6  Purchasing 

8  Production 

6  Stock  Methods 

8  Engineering 

8  Time  Study 

4  Industrial  Organization  and  Shop  Management 

10  Electives 

104 

NOTE. — Applicant  must  be  a  college  graduate  or  equivalent. 


THE  RUBBER  AND  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRIES       73 

OUTLINE  OF  ADVANCED  TRAINING  COURSE  FOR  MECHANICAL  MEN 

Weeks  Class  of  Work 

21  Machine  Shop  Practice 

4  (a)  Preliminary  Instructions 

3  (6)  Drill  Press 

4  (c)   Milling  Machine 
6                               (d)  Lathe 

4  (e)  Gear  Cutting  and  Grinding 

4  Forge 

1  (a)  Stamping 

1  (6)  Drop  Forge 

2  (c)  Tools  and  Dies 

4  Foundry 

1  (a)  Wood  and  Metal  Pattern 

3  (6)  Moulding 

6  Inspection 

3  (a)  Rough  and  Finished 

3  (6)  Gauges  and  Tools 

3  Hardening  and  Tempering 

6  Assembling 

3  (a)  Rear  Axle  and  Transmission 

3  (6)  Clutch  and  Motor 

10  Machine  Repair 

24  General  Tool  Room 

4  (a)  Tool  Repair 
6  (6)  Set-up  Work 
4                                (c)   Tool  Grinder 

10  (d)  Jigs  and  Fixtures 

26  Engineering  and  Designing 

8  (a)  Tool  Design 

8  (6)  Time  Study  and  Routing 

10  (c)   Mechanical  Engineering 

104 

NOTE. — Applicant  must  be  a  mechanical  engineering  graduate  or 
equivalent. 


74  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Truck  Sales  School.— The  Sales  School  is  row 
only  three  weeks  in  length,  but  it  offers  the  best 
instruction  that  the  company  can  provide  through 
the  co-operation  of  engineers  and  department  chiefs. 
It  started  as  a  five  weeks,  course,  was  later  reduced 
to  four  weeks  and  they  are  now  trying  three  weeks. 
Ordinarily,  about  20  men  are  in  attendance,  sent  in 
by  the  company's  distributors  and  sales  offices,  who 
stand  the  student's  expenses  amounting  to  $250  to 
$500  per  man. 

The  course  has  been  carefully  laid  out  as  a  study, 
of  the  car's  mechanism,  of  selling  methods,  and  of  the 
competitive  points  to  be  met  in  selling.  It  is,  how- 
ever, planned  to  be  broader  than  a  mere  training 
course  in  the  effective  selling  of  the  company's  truck, 
as  there  are  introduced  some  lectures  which  should 
go  toward  making  of  the  students  transportation  en- 
gineers. We  find  for  example  such  topics  as : 

Transportation's  Influence  upon  Civilization  and 
How  it  Has  Made  the  World  Smaller. 

Importance  of  Correct  Specifications. 

The  Coal  Industry. 

The  Milk  Industry. 

Professional  Haulage. 


CHAPTER  III 
SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS 

THE  following  six  programs  have,  in  general,  been 
developed  in  companies  not  as  large  as  those  consid- 
ered in  the  first  two  chapters.  All  find  a  place  for  at 
least  a  limited  utilization  of  apprenticeship  in  the 
skilled  trades  and  of  various  types  of  special  training 
which  seem  at  this  time  best  suited  to  their  needs. 

The  wide  variability  in  methods  shows  that  a 
training  or  educational  policy  has  not  become  crys- 
tallized; and  it  is,  no  doubt,  fortunate  that  such  is 
the  case.  It  should  be  recognized  as  an  expense  to 
the  company  and,  in  most  cases,  entailing  consider- 
able effort  on  the  part  of  the  employee  only  to  be 
justified  if  it  brings  increased  effectiveness  and  a  re- 
sulting improvement  in  salary.  Of  course,  there  is 
some  instruction  which  can  be  justified  as  adding  to 
the  mental  satisfaction  of  the  learner,  but,  in  general, 
corporation  instruction  will  only  incidentally  provide 
this  personal  satisfaction. 

No.  8 
THE  NORTON  COMPANY,  WORCESTER,  MASS. 

The  Norton  Company  are  the  well-known  manu- 
facturers of  abrasive  materials  and  grinding  ma- 
chinery. They  employ  in  their  plant  some  3,500 

75 


76  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

people,  of  whom  not  more  than  250  are  women.  (1) 
Intensive  training  for  machine  operatives;  (2)  a 
Grinding  Course  for  demonstrators,  trouble  men, 
etc.;  and  (3)  a  Half-time  Mechanical  Course  are 
the  present  important  educational  developments. 
There  are  also  projected  a  Foremen's  Training  Course 
and  a  plan  of  correspondence  and  resident  instruction 
for  agent's  salesmen  besides  minor  departments, 
such  as  office-work  training  and  Americanization 
instruction. 

(1)  Intensive  Training  for  Machine  Operatives.— 
There  are  approximately  850  men  employed  in  the 
machine  division,  of  whom  some  200  skilled  machin- 
ists have  come  through  the  training  department. 

The  present  methods  are  as  follows.  The  course 
as  laid  out  for  lathe  and  milling  machine  hands  is  six 
weeks  in  length.  For  the  lathe  worker  a  schedule  of 
eight  type  jobs  has  been  arranged  in  which  Bulletin 
52  of  the  U.  S.  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Educa- 
tion is  being  followed.  The  work  is  in  charge  of  a 
supervisor  of  training  with  long  practical  experience 
coupled  with  considerable  practice  at  trade  teaching 
in  the  local  trade  school.  His  methods  are  in  part  a 
reaction  from  what  he  conceives  as  unsatisfactory  in 
public  trade  school  teaching,  but,  in  the  main,  an 
adaptation  to  the  special  needs  of  his  company  in 
attempting  to  strike  an  optimum  balance  between 
thorough  teaching  and  minimum  time  in  bringing 
the  individual  undergoing  training  to  efficient  pro- 
duction. For  this  reason  he  has  selected  his  instruct- 
ors upon  what  might  be  called  a  functionalized  basis. 
Thus,  while  he  has  chosen  for  this  purpose  skilled 
mechanics  who  have  proved  themselves  successful  at 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        77 

training,  one  is  considered  valuable  for  his  painstaking 
thoroughness  in  teaching,  the  other  for  his  success  in 
bringing  the  individual  being  trained  up  to  a  high 
average  speed  of  production. 

There  are  some  35  or  40  being  put  through  this 
training,  of  whom  7  are  carefully  selected  appren- 
tices following  a  two  years'  course  for  all  around  effi- 
ciency, while  the  remainder  remain  only  for  the  inten- 
sive courses  already  described.  In  both  cases,  prelimi- 
nary to  entrance  upon  the  course,  an  examination 
must  be  passed  in  the  minimum  essentials  of  arith- 
metic that  are  required  by  machinists. 

Cost  averages  for  training  have  been  computed 
upon  which  it  is  estimated  that  about  one-half  the 
six  weeks  in  training  is  a  company  expense  not  offset 
by  production,  ancU$70_has  been  thus  computed  as 
the  approximate  cost  per  man.  Of  course,  every 
shop  not  having  a  training  department  will  have  this 
or  an  even  greater  cost  with  every  untrained  man 
taken  on.  The  difference  is  that  ordinarily  it  is  ab- 
sorbed in  the  regular  production  costs. 

It  is  possible  for  an  operative  who  wishes  to  be- 
come an  all-around  machinist  to  return  after  twelve 
weeks  at  regular  production  to  the  training  depart- 
ment to  learn  anoihex_ machine.  Under  those  cir- 
cumstances the  rate  fixed  is  15  per  cent  below  the 
standard  day  rate. 

It  is  claimed  for  the  training  department  that  it 
has  produced  a  greater  stability  in  the  company's 
labor  supply,  a  better  type  of  workman,  has  reduced 
the  number  of  accidents  and  has  provided  a  reservoir 
from  which  superior  workmen  could  be  chosen  for 
foremen. 


78  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

The  average  rate  of  graduation  from  this  training 
course  naturally  fluctuates  with  demands  for  machine 
operatives,  but  at  present  is  at  the  rate  of  four  per 
week,  which  thus  provides  for  about  200  recruits  per 
year.  If,  however,  a  considerable  number  returned 
to  the  department  for  trade  extension  training  in  the 
way  of  learning  another  machine,  this  number  would, 
of  course,  be  proportionately  lessened. 

Apart  from  the  training  in  this  special  department, 
mention  should  also  be  made  of  the  rather  informal 
type  of  floor  training  provided  by  rate  setters.  When 
a  workman  fails  to  attain  the  speed  of  production  de- 
termined previously  by  the  rate  setter  as  possible, 
the  latter  is  required  to  demonstrate  to  the  workman 
concerned  that  such  production  is  feasible  by  actual 
performance  on  the  workman's  machine,  and  to  show 
him  how  to  adjust  and  control  his  machine  in  order 
to  attain  the  rated  output. 

(2)  The  Grinding  Course. — About  20  are  progress- 
ing through  the  Grinding  Course,  which  is  a  training 
program  for  "  demonstrators,  service  men,  trouble 
men,  etc."  The  purpose  of  the  course  is  said  to  be 
"  to  provide  for  the  sales  department  a  supply  of  men 
who  thoroughly  understand  both  wheels  and  machines 
and  who,  above  all,  can  actually  promote  future  sales 
because  of  service  rendered  to  customers.  This 
means  actual  physical  service  and  not  pamphlet  ser- 
vice— hand  service  and  not  lip  service." 

The  desired  qualifications  are  health  and  what  is 
"  vaguely  called  a  good  personality  "  and  exceptional 
intelligence,  "  whether  or  not  highly  educated."  It  is 
also  demanded  that  the  candidate  should,  as  a  rule, 
have  had  sufficient  machine  shop  training  so  that  the 


SOME   VARIED   COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        79 

only  manual  training  required  in  the  course  will  be 
that  involving  grinding,  the  assembling  of  grinding 
machines,  and  a  knowledge  of  wheels.  It  is  obvious 
that  this  requirement  places  a  premium  on  the  man 
with  several  years  of  machine  tool  experience  as  com- 
pared to  one  with  an  extended  technical  education, 
even  though  the  latter  were  trained  in  grinding. 
They  also  prefer  men  already  in  their  employ,  as 
offering  a  better  opportunity  to  know  the  man  and 
as  providing  the  stimulus  of  hope  of  advancement  to 
ambitious  employees. 

In  the  course  scheduled,  which  is  about  one  year 
in  length,  all  the  types  of  grinding  are  specified.  The 
work  is  ordinarily  on  productive  jobs  and  not  in  the 
form  of  exercises;  though  the  student  is  required  to 
perform  a  series  of  experiments  in  order  to  "  discover 
the  correct  theory  of  grain  depth  cut,  chatter  causes 
and  cures,  speeds  and  feeds  and  dynamic  balance." 

Candidates  are  also  sent  out  on  local  jobs  under 
the  care  of  experienced  men  during  the  course  to  see 
how  "  they  react  under  strange  conditions  and  ad- 
verse circumstances."  Also,  to  quote  further  from  a 
superintendent's  letter  outlining  the  course:  "  The 
educational  director  should  keep  these  men  busy  on 
the  mental  side,  in  order  to  make  them  able  to  be  of 
real  value  in  the  estimating  of  grinding  production 
and  expert  in  the  mathematics  and  language  of  their 
particular  product." 

(3)  Special  Half-time  Mechanical  Course. — To 
commence  this  year  the  educational  department  has 
planned  an  interesting  modification  of  the  co-opera- 
tive idea  in  education.  Fifty  of  the  company's  em- 
ployees are  to  have  the  privilege  of  resuming  their 


80  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

education  on  a  half-time  basis,  and  it  is  planned  to 
offer  the  same  provision  each  year  hereafter  to  about 
20  men.  This  privilege  is  open  to  selected  employees 
who  have  finished  at  least  two  years'  work  in  high 
school  or  its  equivalent,  are  at  least  20  years  old  pref- 
erably, and  who  have  at  least  a  year's  shop  experi- 
ence. 

For  instruction  they  will  be  divided  into  two  equal 
groups  and  each  fortnight  will  alternate  between  their 
employment  in  the  plant  and  the  classes  which  are 
provided,  one  group  being  at  work  while  the  alter- 
nate group  is  under  instruction.  Only  during  the 
summer  both  groups  are  employed  at  work,  which 
will  enlarge  their  shop  experience  and  no  school  in- 
struction will  be  given.  Wages  will  be  commensurate 
with  the  work  performed  and  arranged  by  individual 
agreement  between  each  student  and  the  company. 
Naturally,  the  students  will  be  paid  only  for  their 
time  in  actual  production.  The  entire  expense  of  the 
school  is,  however,  to  be  borne  by  the  company. 

The  summers,  as  now  scheduled,  are  to  be  spent  at 
work  in  the  Norton  patternshops  and  in  a  commercial 
foundry  outside  of  the  Norton  Company.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  this  variety  of  experience  is  essential  in 
providing  the  all-around  training  desired. 

The  course  of  instruction  laid  out  for  the  ten  fort- 
nightly periods  of  each  of  the  two  years  is  divided 
into  two  terms.  Each  week  is  laid  out  on  a  forty- 
four  hour  basis. 

Following  this  plan  the  mornings  of  the  first  term 
are  devoted  to  an  intensive  study  of  mathematics  and 
English,  classes  being  scheduled  not  on  the  hour-a- 
day  five-days-a-week  principle  usual  in  the  ordinary 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        81 

school,  but  instead  are  to  be  continuous  from  eight 
to  twelve.  Thus,  all  Saturday  forenoon  is  devoted 
to  English  and  the  remaining  forenoons  similarly  to 
Mathematics.  All  the  five  afternoons  are  in  the 
same  way  given  to  free  hand  and  mechanical,  drawing. 

During  the  second  term  one  forenoon  is  given  to 
the  chemical  laboratory,  another  to  the  physics  labo- 
ratory agTalf  eniates  £o  the  mathematics,  which  is  con- 
tinued. In  the  afternoon  drawing  is  replaced  by 
mechanism  for  two  afternoons;  science,  one  after- 
noon; and  the  other  two  afternoons  by  economics, 
government,  and  transportation. 

The  first  term  of  the  second  year  provides  three 
forenoons  for  mechanics,  with  the  three  alternating 
forenoons  for  materials  and  metallurgy.  Three  after- 
noons are  to  be  spent  on  machine  parts  and  two  in 
the  mechanical  testing  laboratory. 

In  the  second  term,  which  concludes  the  course,  for 
two  forenoons  and  one  afternoon  time  study  is  sched- 
uled and  a  day  given  over  to  the  work  of  the  various 
departments  of  the  company.  Three  forenoons  are 
devoted  to  shop  management,  and  of  the  remaining 
three  afternoons  two  are  given  to  shop  visits  and  one 
to  machine  design. 

The  course  may,  of  course,  be  considerably  modi- 
fied, as  experience  will  probably  justify  stressing  some 
of  the  courses  at  the  expense  of  others,  but  it  is  thought 
worth  while  to  reproduce  the  present  plan  to  show  its 
comprehensive  scope. 

The  list  of  positions  open  to  the  graduates  who 
prove  their  fitness  is  interesting,  as  showing  the  op- 
portunities provided  by  employment  in  an  expanding 
company  awake  to  the  desirability  of  recruiting  its 


82  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

skilled,  technical,  and  supervisory  force,  as  far  as 
possible,  through  promotions  inside  the  company. 
Thus,  it  is  stated  in  the  announcement  of  the  course 
that  graduates  may  hope  to  fill  the  following  vocations 
in  the  company:  Mechanics,  Draughtsmen,  Fore- 
men, Inspectors,  Production  Engineers,  Office  Sales 
and  Quotation  Men,  Credit  Men,  Order  Editors, 
Demonstrators,  Traveling  Salesmen,  Publicity  Men, 
Superintendents,  and  Managers. 

A  further  educational  provision  is  the  establish- 
ment of  four  scholarships  in  the  Worcester  Polytechnic 
Institute  covering  all  tuition  and  laboratory  fees  for 
one  year  to  employees  whose  educational  equipment 
is  ample.  Ordinarily  the  holders  of  the  scholarships 
will  be  employed  by  the  company  during  the  summer 
and  it  is  to  be  expected  that  they  will  be  re-employed 
after  completing  the  course. 

The  possibility  of  synthesizing  these  educational 
provisions  is  worth  considering.  We  shall  assume 
that  a  boy  of  normal  or  superior  ability  finishes  two 
years  at  the  high  school  and  then  enters  the  apprentice 
course  in  the  mechanical  training  department.  He 
finishes  this  in  two  years  and  continues  with  the  com- 
pany until  he  is  20,  when  the  half-time  mechanical 
course  is  open  to  him.  Upon  completion  of  this,  the 
grinding  course  or  else  the  year's  scholarship  at  the 
Polytechnic  Institute  should  be  possibilities.  At 
twenty-three  or  four  he  should  stand  out  as  an  indus- 
trial or  production  engineer  with  both  the  practical 
experience  of  an  extended  apprenticeship  and,  in  ad- 
dition, a  broad  technical  training. 

Altogether,  the  training  and  educational  program 
of  this  company  as  outlined  has  interesting  and  novel 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        83 

features  which  the  management  plan  to  extend  and 
amplify  as  opportunity  offers  with  the  complete  in- 
stallation of  the  educational  department  now  under 
way.  We  shall  then  expect  a  thorough  program  of 
foreman  training,  office  work  training,  Americaniza- 
tion classes,  and  several  unique  features,  such  as 
"  external  "  or  correspondence  instruction  for  agents' 
salesmen  and  for  customers  in  their  home  works,  a 
feature  which  is  considered  of  particular  importance. 


No.  9 
WATERVLIET  ARSENAL,  WATERVLIET,  N.  Y. 

The  Watervliet  Arsenal  has  long  been  maintained 
by  the  Ordnance  Department  of  the  United  States 
Army.  For  ten  or  twelve  years  apprentices  have 
been  employed,  but,  owing  to  the  relatively  small 
number  of  employees  previous  to  the  late  war,  not 
more  than  10  or  12  were  taken  on  each  year.  As  a 
result,  however,  of  the  increased  production  stimu- 
lated by  the  war  and  an  awakened  interest  in  appren- 
ticeship, there  are  now  76  apprentices,  all  being  at 
present  in  the  machinist's  trade.  In  this  connection 
it  should  be  noted  that  there  are  475  all-around  ma- 
chinists and  toolmakers  employed  in  the  arsenal  and 
about  the  same  number  of  operatives  and  skilled 
specialists. 

The  plan  of  organization  for  training  is  of  interest. 
In  general  charge  of  all  educational  activities  in  the 
works  is  a  Superintendent  of  Education.  These 
activities  embrace  (1)  Apprenticeship;  (2)  Inten- 
sive Study;  (3)  Visual  Instruction;  (4)  Mass  Edu- 


84  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

cation;  (5)  a  Vestibule  School;  and  (6)  Foreman 
Training. 

(1)  Apprentice  Training. — In  charge  of  Apprentice- 
ship, under  the  direction  of  the  superintendent  al- 
ready mentioned,  is  a  supervisor,  who  is  a  machinist 
of  long  experience,  apprentice  trained,  who  previous 
to  the  expansion  of  the  apprentice  department  gave 
all  the  supplementary  instruction.  He  is  now  assisted 
by  an  instructor  in  Shop  Mathematics  and  Applied 
Science,  formerly  an  Assistant  Professor  in  Rensselaer 
Polytechnic  Institute,  who  is  devoting  all  his  time  to 
this  instruction,  and  for  the  work  in  drawing  by  a 
professor  of  design  from  the  same  institution  who  is 
employed  on  a  part-time  basis. 

The  first  year  of  apprenticeship  is  spent  in  the 
training  department,  which  is  a  section  of  the  plant 
wholly  distinct  from  the  remainder  of  the  plant  with 
a  generous  equipment  of  all  the  standard  types  of 
machine  tools  with  facilities  for  25  boys.  In  charge 
of  this  is  the  supervisor,  who  is  assisted  by  two  ex- 
perienced mechanics  who  act  as  sub-foremen  in  train- 
ing at  regular  production  jobs.  For  the  remainder 
of  the  term  of  apprenticeship  the  boys  are  transferred 
for  further  experience  about  the  plant,  but  always 
under  the  friendly  direction  of  the  supervisor. 

Supplementary  instruction  is  provided  for  six 
hours  a  week  so  arranged  as  to  be  about  equally  di- 
vided between  the  employer's  and  the  apprentice's 
own  time.  This  is  accomplished  by  requiring  them 
to  work  until  six  o'clock  instead  of  five  on  the  two 
days  a  week  on  which  they  receive  their  instruction. 
The  adherence  of  the  apprentices  to  this  arrangement 
is  secured  by  their  signing  a  special  agreement  upon 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        85 

indenture  to  put  in  one  hour  of  study  on  mathematics 
and  drawing  for  each  hour  of  instruction  given  in 
place  of  work  during  regular  employment  hours. 

The  instruction  is  divided  into  six  terms  of  twenty- 
one  weeks  each,  as  follows: 

Term  1.  Arithmetic 2  periods  of  It  hours  each  per  week 

Algebra 2       "       "    f      " 

English 2       "       "    \     " 

Practical  Talks 2       "       "    ±     "        "      "      " 

Term  2.  Arithmetic 2  periods  of  1  j  hours  each  per  week 

Algebra 2       "       "    f     w        "      "      " 

English 1  period    "    \      "        "      "      " 

Practical  Talks 1       "        "    \     "        "      "      '" 

Mechanical  Drawing. ...  1       "       ' '  1        "        "      "      " 

Term  3.  Mechanical  Drawing. ...   2  periods  of  It  hours  each  per  week 
Mensuration  and  Geome- 

try 2       "        "  It      "        "      »       " 

Practical  Talks 1  period    "    \      "        "      "      " 

Industrial  history 1       "       "    $      "        "      ll      " 

Term  4.  Trigonometry 2  periods  of  1^  hours  each  per  week 

Mechanism 1  period    ' '  1        ' ' 

Mechanical  Drawing. ...   2  periods  "It      " 

Term  5.  Tool  Design 2  periods  of  It  hours  each  per  week 

Strength  of  Materials ...  2       ' '        "1        " 

Mechanics 1  period    "1        ' ' 

Practical  Talks 1       ' '       "    J     " 

Term  6.  Tool  Design 2  periods  of  It  hours  each  per  week 

Practical  Science 2       "        "I        "        "      "      " 

Mechanics 1       "       "1        "        "      "      " 

Shop  Economics 1       "       '*    \     "        "      "      " 

Boys  fifteen  to  eighteen  years  of  age  are  eligible  for 
apprenticeship,  those  with  at  least  one  year  of  high 
school  being  preferred,  and  candidates  must  pass  a 


86  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

civil  service  examination  which  is  given  twice  a  year, 
and  from  the  eligible  list  thus  established  selections 
are  made  at  such  times  as  needed. 

The  remunerative  returns  for  apprenticeship  in 
this  arsenal  seem  more  generous  than  would  be  pos- 
sible for  a  private  concern  to  offer.  The  indenture 
calls  for  six  whole  terms  of  1,250  hours  each,  which 
works  out  as  about  three  and  one-half  years;  since 
the  boys  are  granted  a  thirty-day  vacation  each  year 
and  the  working  week  is  forty-four  hours  in  length. 
Upon  this  basis  the  apprentice  pay  is  as  follows: 

1st  period  25£  an  hour  or  $11 .00  a  week 


2d 

3d 

4th 

5th 

6th 


27^ 
30^ 
32^ 


$11.88 
$13.20 
$14.08 
$15.40 
$17.60 


In  addition  to  this,  after  the  first  six  months,  $20 
per  month  bonus  is  paid  by  the  government,  which 
brings  the  apprentice's  pay  up  to  what  seems  generous 
proportions. 

(2)  Evening  Improvement  and  Trade  Extension 
Classes. — Intensive  Study  is  the  caption  under  which 
evening  classes  were,  during  the  past  winter,  organized 
in  the  plant.  Merely  the  fact  that  a  night  school  is 
provided  is,  of  course,  of  no  great  significance  beyond 
the  plant,  but  that  they  were  planned  and  promoted 
by  a  committee  of  employees  does  seem  of  some  im- 
portance as  suggesting  an  essential  form  of  procedure 
to  insure  their  success.  The  year  was  divided  into 
two  terms  of  twenty  weeks  each  with  two  lessons  a 
week.  The  cost  of  registration  was  placed  at  $5  per 
term  for  adults  and  $2.50  for  employees  under  twenty 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        87 

years  of  age.     There  was  said  to  be  an  average  en- 
rollment of  84  altogether  in  the  following  8  courses: 

English  and  Current  Events 

Elementary  Mathematics 

Advanced  Mathematics 

Strength  of  Materials 

Drafting 

Elementary  Electricity 

Commercial  Arithmetic,  Cost  Keeping  and  Stock  Keeping 

Penmanship,  Stenography,  and  Typewriting 

Some  of  the  classes  were  held  from  5  to  6  P.M., 
while  others  were  from  7.30  to  9  P.M.  so  as  to  be  at 
times  most  convenient  to  the  students. 

(3)  Visual  Instruction  seems  to  be  merely  a  title 
under  which  "  industrial  and  entertaining  movies  " 
are  being  provided.     It  is  not  believed  that  much  was 
expected  of  them  as  an  effective  means  of  education 
in  the  industry,  but'  rather  that  they  were  intended 
to  provide  innocent  diversion  which  might  not  other- 
wise be  available.     Such  a  provision  is,  of  course,  to 
be  recommended  more  especially  in  industries  located 
at  points  not  readily  accessible  and  where  the  plant 
seems  the  natural  center  for  such  activities. 

(4)  The  employee's  committee  on  Mass  Education 
has  provided  a  series  of  noon  hour  lectures  twice  a 
week.     The  lecturers  seem  to  be  in  the  main  nearby 
clergymen  and  educators.     The  idea  actuating  the 
movement  is  evidently  inspirationally  to  enlist  the 
best  efforts  of  the  working  force  toward  co-operation 
in  production  and  enlightened  community  activity. 
How  effective  this  movement  will  be  undoubtedly 
depends  on  its  permanency  and  its  effectiveness  in 
reaching  the  bulk  of  the  workers.     If  the  lectures  are 


88  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

patronized  only  by  those  habituated  to  church, 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and  lecture 
forum,  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  the  movement 
will  not  function  beyond  the  circles  already  reached 
by  these  community  agencies. 

(5)  Vestibule  School.— In  the  Vestibule  School  it 
was   stated   that   there   were   now   three   ex-service 
soldiers   being   given   training   under   rehabilitation. 
Their  first  period  of  training  is  for  six  months  and,  if 
they  are  not  yet  proficient  at  the  end  of  that  time, 
they  are  to  be  given  one  or  even  two  more  similar 
periods  of  training. 

(6)  Foreman  Training. — A  Foreman's  School  is  also 
maintained,  meeting  fortnightly  in  lunch  sessions  in 
the  plant's  cafeteria.     This  effort  toward  improvement 
of  the  working  force  at  a  vital  point  seems  to  be  favor- 
ably considered  and  to  be  developing  toward  more 
intensive  utilization. 

Apprenticeship,  Intensive  Study,  i.e.,  night  school 
trade  extension  as  a  co-operative  movement  of  em- 
ployees and  management,  and  Foreman  Training  all 
seem  measures  favorably  received  and  developing  as 
useful  expedients  toward  improving  the  plant's  work- 
ing force.  Particularly  to  be  commended  seems  the 
apprentice  system  where  the  equipment  of  the  train- 
ing department,  the  quality  of  the  teaching  staff 
and  the  plans  for  related  work  instruction  with  that 
for  systematic  training  in  practice  all  seem  eminently 
satisfactory.  This  condition  is  reflected  in  the  ap- 
parent high  quality  of  the  young  men  undergoing 
apprenticeship  and  their  satisfaction  expressed  to  the 
author  as  to  the  conditions. 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        89 


No.   10 

WINCHESTER  REPEATING  ARMS  COMPANY, 
NEW  HAVEN,  CONN. 

The  Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Company  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  late  war  found  itself  confronted 
with  the  problem  either  of  greatly  retrenching  its 
production  or  of  branching  out  into  many  new  lines 
of  manufacture.  In  order  to  utilize  the  greatly  in- 
creased space,  equipment,  and  working  force  which 
had  been  required  for  war  production,  it  chose  the 
latter  course.  This  has  meant. the  entrance  into  the 
manufacture  of  pocket  knives,  shears,  and  other 
forged  and  edged  tools,  skates,  fishing  tackle,  batteries 
and  flash-lights,  and  still  other  products  yet  to  be  de- 
veloped. To  market  these  new  products  it  was  con- 
sidered necessary  to  acquire  a  chain  of  district  ware- 
houses and  of  retail  stores  and  agencies  extending 
throughout  the  country. 

To  reorganize  the  personnel  for  the  changed  pro- 
duction, more  minor  executives,  foremen,  and  office 
workers  were  essential,  which  argued  for  the  instal- 
lation of  an  educational  division.  Equally  the  train- 
ing of  the  workers  in  these  new  lines  was  believed  to 
justify  the  development  of  a  training  department. 
It  should  be  noted  that  in  this  corporation  the  two 
functions  are  considered  distinct  and  co-ordinate.  The 
educational  work  heads  up  to  the  personnel  depart- 
ment, while  training  is  subordinate  to  the  manufac- 
turing department.  A  third  division  of  the  field  is 
found  in  apprentice  training,  which  antedates  the  ad- 
justment to  war  conditions  and,  of  course,  the  other 


90  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

instructional  features.  Over  this  the  educational 
director  exercises  only  supervisory  control. 

Apprenticeship. — To  consider  first  the  provision  for 
apprentice  training,  only  that  for  the  machinists'  and 
toolmakers'  trade  is  at  present  offexeiL  In  this  there 
is  an  enrollment  at  present  of  116,  for  whom  a  three 
years'  course  is  laid  out.  The  usual  provisions  are 
found,  such  as  limiting  entrance  to  boys  aged  sixteen 
to  twenty  and  requiring  an  apprentice  agreement. 

Apprentices  are  very  carefully  selected.  In  every 
case  grammar  school  graduation  is  required  and,  to 
insure  a  satisfactory  knowledge  of  arithmetic,  a  rather 
difficult  examination  in  that  subject  is  imposed, 
which  must  be  passed  with  a  high_standing.  Also  the 
applicants  are  given  a  physical  examination  with  the 
requirements,  in  addition  to  good  health  and  physique, 
of  a  minimum  height  of  5  feet  3  inches,  a  weight  of 
105  pounds,  good  eyesight  and  hearing.  Also,  the 
character  of  the  boy  is  investigated  to  insure  the  best 
and  most  satisfactory  material.  If  accepted,  they 
are  placed  on  probation  for  two  months'  trial  before 
indenture  for  the  three  years  is  signed.  They  are 
then  required  to  purchase  their  own  individual  measur- 
ing tools  and  a  machinists'  handbook. 

To  insure  ample  instruction  at  all  the  standard 
machine  tools,  a  separate  training  department  is  pro- 
vided under  a  highly  skilled  mechanic  as  supervisor 
who  takes  a  personal  interest  in  the  progress  of  each 
of  the  apprentices.  He  is  also  assisted  by  carefully 
chosen  machinist  instructors.  This  feature  of  a  sep- 
arate training  department  with  high  grade  instruc- 
tion coupled  with  the  high  quality  of  tool  work  re- 
quired in  the  production  of  fire  arms,  it  is  believed 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        91 

provides  an  exceptionally  favorable  opportunity  to 
learn  the  toolmaker's  trade. 

Two  hours  per  week  of  classroom  instruction  in 
mathematics  and  mechanics  during  working  hours 
and  an  eight  weeks'  continuous  period  of  intensive 
instruction  in  the  drafting  department  provide  the 
minimum  requirements  of  supplementary  instruction 
in  drawing,  mathematics,  and  science.  This  may^ 
however,  be  supplemented  by  the  more  ambitious 
through  evening  instruction  in  English,  mathematics, 
including  trigonometry,  and  in  drafting.  These 
classes  meet  from  October  to  July  from  6.30  to  8  P.M. 
and  are  provided  without  cost  to  the  student,  though 
no  additional  compensation  is  given  for  taking  them. 
A  library  of  modern  technical  books  and  magazines 
is  also  at  the  disposal  of  those  eager  to  learn. 

Ordinary  compensation  at  present  starts  at  $12  a 
week  and  is  increased  by  two  cents  an  hour  advances 
every  six  months  until  $18  a  week  is  reached  for  the 
final  term.  A  bonus  of  $100  is  also  paid,  if  the  ap- 
prentice completes  the  course  and  remains  in  the  com- 
pany's employ  one  year  after  graduation.  This,  in  a 
sense,  establishes  the  apprentice  period  at  four  years, 
which  conforms  to  the  practice  in  most  plants.  To 
stimulate  and  reward  extraordinary  effort  and  capac- 
ity, prizes  are  also  given  to  those  receiving  the  highest 
rating  in  their  studies. 

Outside  activities  include  athletics  with  skilled 
coaches  in  all  the  major  sports,  dramatics,  and  music, 
which  are  provided  in  an  effort  to  keep  work  for  the 
lively  young  fellows  from  becoming  a  dull  grind. 

Special  Training. — Initial  training  has  been  or- 
ganized throughout  the  plant  under  the  director  of 


92  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

training.  Intensive  instruction  in  trades,  semi-trades, 
and  operations  is  organized  in  40  separate  sections. 
This  includes  definite  instruction  In  such  trades  or 
specialties  as  that  of  sheet-metal  workers,  gun-mech- 
anism adjusters,  bamboo-rod  winders,  electrical  wire- 
men,  polishers,  buffers,  hafters,  glazers,  blade  grinders, 
scissors  and  shear  workers,  fish-reel  assemblers,  bench 
filers,  milling  machine,  drill  press,  and  profile-machine 
operators,  machine-tool  specialists,  die  makers,  die 
sinkers,  drop  forgers,  shop  and  office  clerks. 

The  number  undergoing  training,  of  course,  varies 
with  the  demands  of  the  plant,  depending  upon 
departmental  expansion  and  turnover.  At  present 
175  are  receiving  instruction,  for  whom  a  corps  of 
25  instructors  are  required.  During  the  process  of 
training,  experience  has  shown  that  about  15  per  cent 
are  eliminated  as  unsuited  to  the  particular  work  or 
else  because  they  find  it  distasteful. 

The  director  believes  that  much  attention  should 
be  given  to  teaching  the  instructors  efficient  methods 
of  instruction.  For  this  reason  he  holds  weekly  con- 
ferences of  his  staff,  when  methods  of  teaching  are 
discussed  and  solutions  are  suggested  for  problems 
arising  in  the  work. 

The  length  of  training,  of  course,  varies  with  the 
type  of  work  concerned.  Three  days,  for  example, 
are  considered  sufficient  in  a  punch  press  operation 
or  in  that  of  merely  feeding  a  machine,  while  ten  weeks 
are  usually  necessary  for  a  machine  tool  specialty. 
In  the  latter  case  it  may  be  of  the  nature  of  trade  ex- 
tension for  a  machinist  inexperienced  in  the  particular 
work  required. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  all  work  is  of  the 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        93 

nature  of  floor  training  on  machines  segregated  from 
regular  production  but  installed  in  the  department 
where  the  employee  in  training  will  ultimately  be 
utilized. 

As  stated  by  the  training  director,  the  work  of  the 
department  is  to  test,  train,  upgrade,  and  adjust  all 
new  or  inefficient  operators  in  the  plant. 

Training  for  Minor  Executives. — There  are  ordi- 
narily about  20  young  men  in  the  plant  receiving  a 
varied  experience  to  fit  them  for  administrative  posi- 
tions. The  major  portion  are  college  graduates, 
though,  on  the  average,  about  one-fifth  are  promoted 
from  the  ranks  in  the  plant. 

A  definite  route  through  the  plant  has  been  ar- 
ranged as  follows: 

Three  months  apprentice  training  department. 

Nine  months  in  various  departments  of  the  factory. 

Three  months  general  administrative  work. 

Six  months  specialization  along  the  line  they  wish 
to  follow. 

This  provides  a  total  of  twenty-one  months  of  train- 
ing. 

The  educational  department  requires  that  they 
purchase  and  study  the  Alexander  Hamilton  Insti- 
tute course,  toward  the  cost  of  which  the  company 
pays  one-half.  Weekly  conferences  are  held  to  dis- 
cuss these  lessons  and  during  a  similar  period  each 
week  a  talk  is  given  by  individuals  from  the  executive 
staff  of  the  plant. 

Foreman  Training. — One  hundred  fifty  foremen 
have  been  selected  for  a  training  course  which  has 
been  organized  and  is  being  developed  by  the  educa- 
tional director.  These  men  are  grouped  into  six  sec- 


94  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

tions  of  25  to  30  each.  In  the  weekly  meetings  about 
fifteen  minutes  is  taken  up  by  a  brief  pointed  talk  on 
the  day's  topic  by  the  director.  This  is  followed  by  an 
open  discussion  of  the  topic  among  the  foremen  in  the 
group.  Mimeographed  outlines  are  provided  of  the 
subject  in  hand. 

The  first  subject  to  which  three  to  four  months  are 
being  devoted  is  that  of  Management,  on  which  the 
outlines  of  two  conferences  are  here  reproduced. 

FOREMEN'S  GROUP  CONFERENCES  I 
SUBJECT:  Aims  of  Management 

I.  Interpretation  of  Management 

A.  Broad 

1.  Gathering  data  relating  in  general  to 

a.  Conditions 
6.  Methods 

c.  Processes 

d.  Results 

2.  Applications 

a.  Interpreting  data 

b.  Establishing  of  standards 

c.  Means  of  utilizing  data  and  standards 

d.  Establishing  means  of  further  investigation 

e.  Securing  maximum  prosperity  for  employer,  em- 

ployee, and  consumer 

B.  Narrow 

1.  Collecting  data  relating  to 

a.  A  particular  or  specific  activity 

II.  The  three  components,  broadly  speaking,  in  management 
A.  Organization 

1.  Division  of  work,  to  be  done,  into  defined  tasks 

2.  Assignment  of  these  tasks  to  individuals 

3.  Deals  with  qualifications  and  characteristics  of  human 

beings 

a.  Engineers'  type  (Edison,  the  Wrights,  Bell) 
6.  Executive  type 

c.  Specialists 

d.  Functionalists 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        95 

B.  System 

1.  Method  pursued  by  organization  in  carrying  out  tasks 

C.  Administration 

1.  Work  of  organization  in  operating  the  management 
mechanism  or  system 

Questions  for  Discussion: 

In  what  way  does  management  help  the  foreman? 

The  effect  of  management  on  the  initiative  and  inventive  spirit  of 
the  employee. 

The  relation  of  system  to  organization  and  administration. 

Types  of  men  needed  for  planning  and  execution. 

FOREMEN'S  GROUP  CONFERENCES  II 
SUBJECT:  Types  of  Control 

I.  Line  Control  (Chart) 

A.  General  Manager,  responsible  to  Board  of  Directors 

1.  Accounting  (Comptroller) 

2.  Producing  (Works  Manager) 

a.  Superintendents  of  Foundry,  Forge  Shop,  Machine 

Shop,  etc. 
a— 1.  Foremen 

3.  Selling  (Sales  Manager) 
II.  Line  and  Staff  Control  (Chart) 

A.  General  Manager 

1.  Accounting  (Comptroller) 

2.  Producing  (Works  Manager) 

a.  Superintendents,  of  Foundry  Forge  Shop,  Machine 

Shop,  etc. 
a-1.  Foremen 
6.  Chief  Engineer 
c.   Chief  Chemist 

3.  Selling  (Sales  Manager) 
III.  Winchester  Functional  Control  (Chart) 

A.  President  or  Vice-President 
1.  Planning 

a.  Superintendent  Sales  Production 

b.  Export  Head 

c.  Credit  Head 

d.  Sales  Engineer 

e.  Advertising  Engineer 

/.   Warehouse  Superintendent 


96  EMPLOYEE   TRAINING 

2.  Preparation 

•     a.  Manufacturing  Engineer 
6.  Product  Engineer 
c.   Industrial  Engineer 

3.  Scheduling  and  Production 

a.  Manufacturing  Superintendent 

b.  Personnel  Superintendent 

c.  Purchasing  Agent 

4.  Inspection 

a.  Comptroller 

o-l.  Statistician 
o-2.  Accountant 
o-3.  Auditor 
5.  Office  Superintendent 
IV.  Committee  Control  (Chart) 
A.  Works  Manager 
1.  Committee 

o.  Manufacturing 
6.  Tool 

c.  Suggestion 

d.  Safety 

e.  Welfare 

f.  Educational 

g.  Etc. 

Questions  for  discussion — 

Of  what  use  are  organization  charts? 

Discuss  the  merits  of  the  W.  R.  A.  type  of  organization. 

This  will  be  followed  by  a  similar  treatment  of 
such  comprehensive  topics  as  Economics,  Finance, 
Personnel  Problems,  Accidents  and  Safety  Work. 
The  director  has  in  mind  the  development  of  a  course 
which  will  extend  indefinitely,  perhaps  as  long  as  five 
years. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  program  has  as  its  basis  the 
assumption  that  the  foreman  will  gradually  acquire 
the  fundamental  philosophy  and  method  of  his  ad- 
ministrative functions,  in  other  words,  that  his  effi- 
ciency is  dependent  upon  a  gradual  growth  in  per- 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        97 

spective  and  comprehension  of  his  duties  and  oppor- 
tunities. The  brief  intensive  method  of  four  or  five 
months  of  instruction  found  in  other  plants  is  quite 
evidently  of  more  limited  scope,  that  of  providing  of 
the  initial  attitude  desired  with  a  changing  conception 
of  the  functions  of  the  foreman  as  that  of  the  leader 
rather  than  the  driver,  or  else  to  provide  the  technical 
knowledge  of  the  product  deemed  essential  for  its 
efficient  production.  Of  course,  these  newer  con- 
ceptions are  embraced  in  the  program  here  provided, 
but  the  plan  evidently  does  not  stop  there,  as  it  pro- 
ceeds with  the  idea  of  the  continued  development  of 
these  lieutenants  upon  whose  efficiency  so  much  de- 
pends for  success  in  production. 

Noon  Hour  and  After-work  Classes. — The  company 
has  a  program  of  Americanization,  chiefly  of  teaching 
English  to  its  foreign  laborers.  For  this,  noon  hour 
classes  are  provided  three  days  a  week  and  a  total  of 
about  '200  alien  workers  are  enrolled. 

Classes  in  Stenography  and  Typewriting  are  pro- 
vided, two  hours  a  week  in  each,  either  during  the 
noon  hour  or  seven  to  nine  in  the  evening.  In  stenog- 
raphy 50  are  enrolled  and  in  typewriting,  30.  Of 
more  interest  from  the  standpoint  of  manufacture 
are  classes  in  mechanical  drawing  arranged  for  four 
hours  a  week  from  5.35  to  7.35  P.M.,  arithmetic  and 
shop  mathematics  two  hours  per  week,  5.35  to 
6.35  P.M.,  the  slide  rule,  two  hours  per  week,  5.35  to 
6.35  P.M.  Altogether,  some  25  part-time  paid  teach- 
ers assist  in  this  work  in  English  for  foreigners  and  the 
part-time  educational  classes. 

The  Educational  Organization  Plan. — As  has  been 
previously  stated,  training  and  education  are  con- 


98  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

sidered  two  distinct  functions  for  which  in  each  case  a 
director  is  provided.  It  is  argued  that  training  is 
properly  a  function  of  the  manufacturing  department, 
as  only  in  that  way  can  it  be  introduced  without 
arousing  the  hostility  of  those  responsible  for  pro- 
duction, who  are  the  ones  primarily  interested  in  its 
provision.  Similarly,  the  educational  work  heads 
up  to  the  personnel  department  as  being  in  certain 
particulars  closely  allied  to  employment  work  and  in 
other  activities,  notably  the  noon  hour  and  evening 
extension  classes,  to  other  forms  of  employee  service. 
A  considerable  staff  is  naturally  required  to  pro- 
vide these  various  programs  of  training  and  supple- 
mentary education.  Under  the  training  director,  as 
has  been  mentioned,  is  a  staff  of  25  specialty  instruct- 
ors. The  apprentice  department  has  a  staff  of  5 
instructor  mechanics  and  the  educational  director  has 
8  full  time  assistants  and,  in  addition,  the  staff  of 
part-time  extension  instructors  already  mentioned. 

No.  11 
MERGENTHALER  LINOTYPE  Co.,  BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

The  Mergenthaler  Linotype  Company  offers  an 
interesting  example  of  a  variety  of  training  facilities 
in  a  moderate  sized  plant.  The  product  is  the  very 
intricate  linotype  machine  requiring  for  its  production 
and  constant  improvement  an  engineering  staff,  a 
corps  of  machinists  and,  chiefly,  a  large  number  of 
specialists.  Altogether  some  3,000  are  now  employed, 
including  500  females.  The  plant  is,  however,  ex- 
panding, which  is  a  condition  even  more  urgently 
suggesting  the  desirability  of  special  training  facilities. 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS        99 

Apprenticeship. — To  consider  first  the  provision  for 
apprenticeship,  there  are  in  the  plant  at  present  55 
apprentices  in  the  Machinists'  and  Toolmakers'  trade. 
This  corresponds  to  the  reasonable  ratio  of  one  in  five 
to  the  total  of  269  employed  in  the  tool  room.  Boys 
aged  sixteen  to  'twenty  are  admitted  to  the  four-year 
course  provided  and  it  is  preferred  that  they  come 
directly  from  school.  The  usual  requirements  are 
insisted  upon  of  sound  health,  good  morals,  and  the 
completion  of  a  grammar  school  education.  Selections 
are  made  from  the  waiting  list,  on  which  there  are  at 
present  22  enrolled. 

There  is  no  part-time  supplementary  school  pro- 
vided, though  there  is  a  limited  opportunity  for  after- 
work  instruction  in  blue  print  reading,  shop  arith- 
metic, and  gauge  reading;  and  in  the  public  night 
schools  there  is  plenty  of  opportunity  for  further 
study,  if  required.  Careful  instruction  is,  however, 
given  on  maintenance  work,  which  offers  the  basis  for 
experience. 

After  the  trial  period  of  the  first  six  months  of  em- 
ployment, if  the  boy  is  judged  satisfactory,  an  agree- 
ment is  signed  between  the  company  and  both  his 
parents,  if  living,  or  his  guardian  to  complete  the 
period  of  apprenticeship,  the  company  binding  itself 
to  "  carefully  and  skillfully  teach  every  branch  of  the 
business  of  machinist  and  toolmaker  "  with  the  reason- 
able conditions  stipulated. 

These  conditions,  except  for  the  limited  amount  of 
supplementary  instruction,  seem  particularly  satis- 
factory. Thus,  based  on  a  percentage  of  the  prevail- 
ing hourly  rate,  the  rate  of  wages  are  for  the  respect- 
ive six  months'  periods  as  follows:  25  per  cent  for 


100 


EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 


the  first;  31  per  cent  for  the  second;  37  per  cent 
for  the  third;  50  per  cent  for  the  fourth;  55  per 
cent  for  the  fifth;  60  per  cent  for  the  sixth;  75  per 

Pagel 

Mergentlialcr  Linotype  Company 

Brooklyn,  New  York 

Conditions  of  Apprenticeship 

L  Requirements  The   applicant   (or  admission   to   Apprenticeship  must  not  I*  less  than  sixteen  years  of  age.  nor 

over  twenty  years  of  age.     He  most  be  physically  sound,  of  good  moral  habits,  and  must  have 
received  a  good  grammar-school  education. 

2.  'Application  and          The  applicant  must  apply  in  person,  and,  if  this  application  is  considered -favorably,  he  will  later 
Agreement  be   notified   when   to   begin   work,  subject  to  the  rules  and  regulations  governing  employees  of 

this  factory.     In  order  that  his  speci.il   fitness  for  the   Machinist's  and  Toolmaker's  trade   may 
be  judged  correctly,  the  first  1160  hours  (about  six  months)  will  be  considered  a  trial  period.     During  this  trial  period 

trial  period,  his  conduct  and  workmanship  shall  have  been  found  satisfactory,  he  shall  be  engaged  as  a  regular  appren- 
tice, and  he  shall  he  requested,  together  with  his  guardian,  to  sign  in  duplicate  the  within  form  of  agreement,  which 
that)  be  dated  from  the  beginning  of  the  trial  period. 

3.  The  time  of  apprenticeship  shall  cover  eight  terms  or  period:;  of  llfiO  hours,  making  in  all  about  four  years'  time. 
The  rate  of  wages  per  hour  for  the  respective  periods  shall  be   based  on  a  percentage  of  the  prevailing  hourly  rate 
paid  Tonlniakcrs  by  the  Company,  and  shall  be  as  follows:   25  per  cent,  for  the  first;  31  per  cent,  for  the  second;  37 
per  rent,  for  the  third;  SO  per  cent,  for  the  fourth;  55  per  cent  for  the  fifth;  60  per  cent,  for  the  sixth;  75  per  cent,  for 
the  seventh;  85  per  cent,  for  the  eighth.    The  Company  will  further  pay  a  bonus  of  a  sum  equal  to  ten  per  cent.  (10%) 

.  of  all  wages  paid  to  said  apprentice  during  said  period  of  apprenticeship,  and  confer  a  diploma  signed  by  the  Company 
if  he  satisfactorily  completes  the  full  term  of  his  apprenticeship,  as  provided  elsewhere  in  these  Condition!  and 
Agreement. 

4.  Careful  record!  shall  be  kept  of  each  apprentice,  including  his  efficiency,  initiative,  progress,  obedience,  attend- 
ance, etc.;  and,  at  the  expiration  of  the  third  year,  if  in  the    opinion    of    the    Company    the    record    of   the    apprentice 
warrants  it,  this  Company  will  permit  said  apprentice  tr>  graduate  three  months  from  that  date,  and  present  him  with 
his  diploma;  that  is,  the  Co-npany  will  deduct  nine  months  from  his  term  of  service  because  of  his  good  record,  making 
his  full  term  three  years  and  three  months. 

6*  During  the  term  of  his  apprenticeship,  the  Company  shall  furnish   the  apprentice  with  certain  tools  needed   in 

his  trade.  These  tools  will  be  as  follows:  One  1'  Micrometer,  one  12*  Combination  Square  Set.  one  one-pound  Ham- 
mer,  one  6*  Scale,  one  4'  Scale,  one  8"  Monkey  Wrench,  one  8"  outside  and  one  6*  inside  Calipers,  one  6"  Divider, 
one  6"  Hermaphrodite,  two  Center  Punches,  and  one  copy  of  American  Machinists'  Handbook,  the  value  of  which 
amounts  to  about  $20.00.  These  tools  will  be  loaned  only  to  the  apprentice  during  -his  apprenticeship,  and  he  will  be 
responsible  for  their  good  condition.  They  will  be  the  property  of  the  Company  during  this  time,  but  on  the  satisfactory 
completion  of  his  full  term,  they  will  be.  voluntarily  given  to  him,  in  addition  to  his  bonus. 

6.  General  tt  will  he  the  endeavor  of  the  Mergenthaler  Linotype  Company  to  give  to  the  apprentice,  as  far  as 

Conditions  possible,  an  opportunity  to  acquire  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  Machinist's  and  Toolmaker's  trade, 
and  it  is  expected  the  apprentice  will  manifest  an  interest  in  this  by  being  punctual  in  attendance,  by 
good  conduct  and  faithful  work  in  the  shop,  and  by  improving  himself  in  his  leisure  time  by  reading  and  studying 
literature  relative  to  his  work.  As  far  as  is  practicable,  the  Company  will  give  to  the  apprentice  his  shop-training  on 
the  following  machines  during  his  apprenticeship:  One  month.  Tool  Crib;  eight  months,  Lathes;  eight  months,  Plain 
and  Universal  Milling  Machines;  five  months.  Grinders;  three  months.  Planers  and  Shapers:  six  months.  Bench  Work 
and  Assembling;  one  month.  Radial  Drills  and  Boring  Mills;  twelve  months.  Tool  Work;  making  a  total  of  forty-eight 
months.  The  time  to  be  spent  on  the  various  machines  above  enumerated  may  be  varied,  however,  in  the  discretion 
of  the  management,  according  to  the  record  of  the  apprentice.  This  Company  will  also  help  the  apprentice  by  edu- 
cating' him  in  the  theoretical  problems  of  mechanics  and  mechanical  draughting,  by  such  methods  .as  it  might  establish 
for  the  benefit  of  its  apprentices.  Graduates  of  the  State  Trade  Education  Shop  of  New  York,  or  any  other  equally 
good  training-school,  shall  be  allowed  the  same  number  of  satisfactory  hours  which  they  spent  in  that  school  to  be 
applied  on  this  apprenticeship.  They  will  also  receive  the  regular  bonus  given  on  the  satisfactory  completion  of  this 
apprenticeship. 

17.  Finally,   the  Mergenthaler   Linotype   Company   reserves  the  right  in  its  sole  discretion  to  terminate  this  agreement 

and  discharge  the  apprentice   for  any  of  the   following  reasons:      Nonconformity    to   the    shop    rules   and    regulations, 

notice:  of  their  impropriety,  of  association  with  individuals  deemed  by  the  Company  dangerous  to  the  welfare  of  the 
apprentice,  or  other  conduct  deemed  improper  by  the  Company,  within  or  without  the  shop.  However,  no  apprentice 
will  be  discharged  until  after  investigation  and  approval  by  the  general  foreman  and  superintendent  of  his  department: 
and  after  notice  of  such  discharge,  said  apprentice  shall  be  entitled  to  a  full  hearing  before  the  Works  Management  of 
this  Company.  Said  management  may,  if  warranted  by  the  facts,  reverse  the  decision  appealed  from. 

MERGENTHALER  LINOTYPE  COMPANY 

cent  for  the  seventh;  and  85  per  cent  for  the  eighth. 
The  company  provides  a  novel  basis  for  the  bonus 
paid  at  satisfactory  completion  in  that  it  is  not  a  fixed 
amount,  but  is  at  the  rate  of  10  per  cent  of  all  wages 


SOME  VARIED   COMPREHENSIVE   PROGRAMS      101 

paid  during  the  period  of  apprenticeship.     This  would 
amount  to  $4,361.60  as  wages  at  the  rates  now  (1920) 
prevailing,  and  to  a  bonus,  hence,  of  $436.16  at  corn- 
Page  2 

Agreement 
This  Agreement,  '"*<!«  this —  <^y  of 19 — ,  by  and  between 

,  hereinafter  called  the  "Apprentice." 
: .  his  wife,  the 


parents  (or  guardians)  of  the  Apprentice,  hereinafter  called  the  "Parents,"  and  Mergenthaler  Linotype 
Company,  a  New  York  Corporation,  of  Brooklyn,  New  York,  hereinafter  called  the  "Company." 

Whereas,     the  Apprentice,  who  is  of  the  age  of years  and , —  months,  wishes  to  become 

an  apprentice  of  the  Company  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  the  art  or  trade  of  a  machinist  and  toolmaker; 

Therefore,  the  Parents  hereby  apprentice  the  Apprentice  to  the  Company  for  a  term  or  period  of 
9280  hours,  amounting  to  about  four  years'  time,  unless  varied  under  Paragraph  4  of  the  "Conditions  of  Ap- 
prenticeship," which  are  hereto  attached  and  made  a  part  hereof,  such  period  commencing 

19 ,  and  terminating 19 ,  subject  to  the  variation  above  provided  for,  and 

afjree  that  the  Apprentice  shall  become  an  apprentice  in  the  art  or  trade  of  a  machinist  and  toolmaker, 
subject  to  and  in  accordance  with  the  conditions  of  the  apprenticeship  which  are  given  on  the  reverse  of 
this  agreement  and  made  a  part  hereof,  and  that  during  such  period  the  Apprentice  will  abide  by  the  rules 
and  regulations  of  the  Company,  and  not  leave  the  Company  prior  to  the  expiration  of  such  term;  in  all 
of  which  agreements  the  Apprentice  joins.  The  Parents  further  agree  to  furnish  suitable  and  proper  board, 
lodging,  and  medical  attendance  to  the  Apprentice  during  the  continuance  of  the  above-named  term. 

The  Company  agrees  that,  during  the  said  period,  it  will  pay  to  said  Apprentice  wages  in  accordance 
with  the  "Conditions  of  Apprenticeship"  given  on  the  reverse  side  of  this  agreement ;  and  that  if  the  Ap- 
prentice shall  complete  the  full  term  of  his  apprenticeship,  and  if  this  agreement  shall  not  be  terminated, 
and  the  Apprentice  discharged  by  the  Company  as  provided  in  Paragraph  7  of  the  "Conditions,"  the  Com- 
par/y  will  cause  to  be  carefully  and  skilfully  taught  to  the  Apprentice  every  branch  of  the  business  of 
machinist  and  toolmaker  set  forth  in  said  "Conditions,"  and,  upon  the  expiration  of  the  aforesaid  term  of 
apprenticeship,  will  pay  to  the  Apprentice,  as  bonus,  a  sum  equal  to  ten  per  cent.  (10%)  of  all  wages  paid 
him  during  the  period  of  such  apprenticeship,  and  will  further  give  to  the  Apprentice  a  certificate  in  writing 
that  the  Apprentice  has  served  at  such  art  or  trade  a  full  term  of  apprenticeship  as  above  specified. 

The  parents  or  guardians  agree  that  any  sums  due  or  payable  hereunder  may  be  paid  to  and  received 
by  the  said  Apprentice. 

In  witness  whereof,  duplicate  copies  of  this  agreement  have  been  'signed  by  the  parties  on  the  date 
ahovc  mentioned. 


(folk*  ct   C.wuiian) 


MERGENTHALER  LINOTYPE  COMPANY, 

By 


pletion.  Also,  the  individual  set  of  toolmaker 's 
tools  valued  at  $20,  which  are  loaned  during  the  period 
of  apprenticeship,  are  presented  to  him  with  the 
diploma  when  he  graduates. 


102        >'?<*         PMP&OYEE  TRAINING 


Careful  records  are  kept  of  each  apprentice  "  in- 
cluding his  efficiency,  initiative,  progress,  obedience, 
attendence,  etc.,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  third 
year,  if  in  the  opinion  of  the  Company  the  record  of 
the  apprentice  warrants  it,  this  Company  will  permit 
said  apprentice  to  graduate_three  months  from  that 
date  and  present  him  with  his  diploma'7;  that  is,  the 
company  deducts  nine  months  from  the  term  of  ser- 
vice because  of  good  record,  making  the  full  term 
three  years  and  three  months. 

The  schedule  of  training,  modifiable  at  the  discre- 
tion of  the  management  according  to  the  record  of 
the  apprentice,  is  as  follows:  One  month,  Tool  crib; 
eight  months,  Lathes;  eight  months,  Plain  and  Uni- 
versal Milling  Machines;  five  months,  Grinders; 
three  months,  Planers  and  Shapers;  six  months, 
Bench  Work  and  Assembling;  one  month,  Radial 
Drills  and  Boring  Mills;  twelve  months,  Tool  Work. 

A  very  desirable  feature  is  that  "  Graduates  of  the 
State  Education  Shop  of  New  York,  or  any  other 
equally  good  training  school,  shall  be  allowed  the 
same  number  of  satisfactory  hours  which  they  spent 
in  that  school  to  be  applied  on  this  apprenticeship. 
They  will  also  receive  the  regular  bonus  given  on  the 
satisfactory  completion  of  this  apprenticeship." 

The  conditions  of  apprenticeship  are  here  incorporated 
into  this  study,  as  being  a  model  of  the  best  practice. 

The  Linotype  School  for  Operators.  —  Another  of 
the  company's  interesting  schools  is  that  maintained 
to  train  its  customers'  operators.  A  six  weeks' 
course  is  provided  during  which  the  student  has 
instruction  in  operating  and  repairing  the  press, 
including  its  assembling  and  disassembling.  The 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE   PROGRAMS       103 

equipment  of  the  department  used  for  this  purpose 
consists  of  twelve  machines,  which  fixes  the  limit  to 
attendance.  There  are  also  provided  a  variety  of 
teaching  models  for  amplifying  and  illustrating  the 
instruction.  Two  experienced  operator  mechanics 
provide  the  instruction. 

School  for  Engineers  and  Department  Heads. — 
The  equipment  of  the  School  for  Operators  just 
described  has  been  used  during  the  past  winter  to 
provide  a  type  of  technical  extension  course.  Fifteen 
of  the  engineers  and  departmental  heads  would  as- 
semble after  office  hours  two  nights  a  week  for  an  hour 
to  get  direct  first-hand  instruction  on  the  operation 
and  construction  of  the  press. 

Trade  Extension  Night  Classes. — Special  night 
classes  for  general  machinists  were  also  provided  two 
nights  per  week  with  units  in  blue  print  reading, 
shop  arithmetic,  and  gauge  reading.  Thus,  there  was 
a  class  of  70  for  six  one-hour  periods  in  the  blue  print 
reading  and  25  for  similar  courses  in  Shop  Arithmetic 
and  Gauge  Reading. 

Intensive  Training  School. — The  Engineering  De- 
partment is  conducting  a  school  for  breaking  in 
novices  as  specialists  on  one  type  of  machine.  Those 
in  training  are  usually  ". floaters"  but  selected  as 
young  ambitious  fellows  with  ages  running  from 
twenty-two  to  thirty.  The  course  lasts  five  to  six  weeks 
and  15  are  now  constantly  going  through  this  course. 

Foreman  Training. — A  rather  informal  system  of 
foreman  training  is  provided,  the  foremen  meeting 
with  company  officials  once  a  week,  when  the  various 
problems  of  production  and  employee  control  are 
discussed  and  suggestions  for  solution  formulated, 


104  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

No.  12 
THE  CARNEGIE  STEEL  Co.,  PITTSBURGH,  PA. 

The  Carnegie  Steel  Company,  in  its  three  principal 
plants  and  central  office  in  Pittsburgh,  offers  some 

Page3 
Application  for  Apprenticeship 

day  of ,  19 ,  I  hereby  make  application  for  admission  to  ap- 


prenticeship of  the  Machinist's  and  Toolmaker's  Trade  in  the  factory  of  the  Mergenthaler  Linotype  Com- 
pany, and  I  agree  to  conform  to  the  "Conditions  of  Apprenticeship1'  and  "Agreement"  mentioned  in  these 
Apprentice  Papers,  and  to  the  rules  governing  workmen  in  the  employ  of  their  factory. 


Residence  and  address. 


Place  and  date  of  birth- 


Father's  or  Guardian's  name- 
Father's  birthplace 


Father's  occupation  or  profession . 

From  what  physical  ailments,  if  any,  are  you  suffering? 

Do  you  use  tobacco  in  any  form? 

Do  you  use  intoxicating  drinks? . 

Do  you  use  .profane  language? 


In  it  your  custom  to  attend  church  services? 

In  whit  city  were  you  educated? 


Did  you  graduate  from  a  Grammar  School? 

Name  of  Grammar  School ;  age  when  graduated. 

Did  you  graduate  from  a  High  School  ? 

Name  of  High  School;  age  when  graduated 

Technical  education,  if  any 


Give  name  of  any  employee  of  this  factory  whom  you  knc 
How  have  you  been  employed  since  leaving  school ?_____ 


\Yhy  do  you  wish  to  learn  the  Machinist's  and  Toolmaker's  trade?. 


interesting  developments  of  the  training  idea  in  in- 
dustry. An  apprentice  school  has  been  in  operation 
for  seven  vears  and  a  salesmen's  school  is  also  well 


>ven  yea 
Lishea. 


establishea.     Out  of  the  technical  training  for  the 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS      105 

latter  has  grown  the  idea  of  the  third  and,  perhaps, 
most  interesting  type,  the  works  school. 

Page  4 
Certificate  of  Apprenticeship 


This  is  to  Certify     that 


has  fully  and  satisfactorily  com- 


pleted his  term  of  apprenticeship  in  the  Machinist's  and  Toolmakef's  trade,  and  has  fully  complied  with  all 
the  conditions  in  the  Apprenticeship  Agreement 


.  day  of 


A.  D.  19.. 


MERGENTHALER  LINOTYPE  COMPANY 


Witnesses: 


Special 

Apprenticeship 
Committee 


f  E.  A.  Syt« 
Bradley 


\  ME 
I  S.  Nc 


The  Salesmen's  School. — As  regards  the  salesmen's 
school  it  should  be  remarked  at  the  outset  that  it  is 
not  the  policy  of  the  company  to  take  on  inexpert- 


106  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

enced  young  men  who  think  they  want  to  become 
salesmen,  give  them  a  course  of  training  and  send 
them  into  the  field  as  their  sales  representatives. 
Those  accepted  for  the  training  course  are  already 
successful  salesmen.  The  plan  of  the  course  is  to 
give  two  months  to  the  concentrated  study  of  the 
technical  elements  of  steel,  coupled  with  inspections 
and  observation  throughout  the  mills.  It  is  thus 
expected  that  the  salesman  under  training  will  arrive 
at  a  point  where  he  may  be  said  to  know  steel  suffi- 
ciently well  to  be  of  service  to  the  company's  customers 
and,  through  understanding  their  needs,  to  present 
the  merits  of  his  product. 

For  this  purpose  classes  of  approximately  eight 
salesmen  are  formed  four  times  a  year,  thus  providing 
for  training  30  to  35  men  each  year.  Three  men,  the 
director  of  this  work  and  two  assistants,  all  first  class 
salesmen  as  well  as  technical  experts  in  regard  to  the 
product  sold,  constitute  the  faculty,  which  by  lectures 
and  plant  inspections  provides  the  instruction. 

The  Works  School.— The  fact  that  the  material 
developed  for  the  lectures  in  the  salesmen's  school 
would  be  equally  valuable  in  training  all  the  personnel 
of  the  company  whose  intelligence  is  in  any  way  en- 
listed in  maintaining  or  improving  the  quality  of  the 
product  has  gradually  grown  in  the  minds  of  the 
management.  Consequently,  this  material  has  been 
compiled  as  a  600-page  book  written  in  layman's 
rather  than  in  technical  phrasing.  It  has  been  put 
into  an  attractive  and  durable  format,  and  is  to  be 
sold  to  all  employees  who  desire  it  at  a  nominal  sum- 
less  than  half  that  which  the  management  finds  it 
necessary  to  charge  the  general  public. 


SOME  VARIED   COMPREHENSIVE   PROGRAMS       107 

An  able  educator  has  been  engaged  to  open  classes 
in  each  of  the  major  plants  of  the  company,  in  which 
this  book  will  be  used  as  the  text.  Attendance  at 
these  classes  will  bej£ojkinlary,  although  they  will  be 
held  on  the  nn^npaTiy^  f.im^ftnrl  composed  usually  of 
men  selected  by  the  foremen  as  of  a  superior  sort  in 
intelligence.  It  is  possible  that  ultimately  the  classes 
will  include  all  from  superintendents  down  to  the 
brighter  apprentices  who  are  ambitious  and  capable 
of  advancement. 

To  start  the  experiment,  these  classes  will  meet  but 
one  hour  a  week  during  a  period  of  twenty-four 
months,  which  is  expected  to  be  the  time  required  to 
cover  the  course  as  now  projected.  A  considerable 
amount  of  outside  reading  will  be  expected,  for  which 
ample  facilities  are  available,  as  might  be  expected  in 
Carnegie  plants  in  the  generously  provisioned  metal- 
lurgical libraries  provided  for  each  of  the  plants. 

The  course  as  projected  follows: 

FIRST  PERIOD — STUDY  OF  RAW  MATERIALS — 4  MONTHS 

1.  Preparatory  study — physics  and  chemistry 1  month 

2.  Refractories 1  week 

3.  Ores  of  iron • 1  week 

4.  Fuels  and  the  manufacture  of  coke 2  months 

5.  Fluxes  and  slags 2  weeks 

SECOND  PERIOD — STUDY  OF  THE  BLAST-FURNACE; — 5  MONTHS 

1.  Composition  and  constitution  of  pig  iron 

2.  Principles  of  the  process  and  equipment  for  the  manufacture 

of  pig  iron 

3.  Construction  of  the  blast  furnace 

4.  Blast-furnace  accessories 

5.  Equipment  for  handling  raw  materials 

6.  Operating  the  furnace 

7.  Chemical  reactions 


108  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

THIRD  PERIOD — THE  MAKING  OF  STEEL— 7  MONTHS 

1.  Consideration  of  the  ferrous  products 

2.  The  Bessemer  process 6  weeks 

3.  The  basic  open-hearth  process 3  months 

4.  The  electric  process 1  month 

5.  The  duplex  and  triplex  processes 1  week 

6.  The  chemical  testing  of  steel 3  weeks 

7.  The  physical  testing  of  steel 2  weeks 

FOURTH  PERIOD — THE  SHAPING  OF  STEEL — 6  MONTHS 

1.  Methods  of  shaping  steel 

2.  Essentials  of  rolling  mill  construction  and  operation 

3.  Ingots  and  their  defects 

4.  The  soaking  pit 

5.  The  rolling  of  blooms  and  slabs 

6.  The  rolling  of  billets 

7.  Rolling  sheet  bars  and  skelp 

8.  Defects  in  the  semi-finished  product 

9.  Rolling  of  sheared  plates 

10.  Rolling  of  universal  mill  plates 

11.  Rolling  of  large  sections 

12.  The  hot  rolling  of  strip 

13.  Merchant  mills 

14.  The  rolling  of  circular  shapes 

15.  Forging  of  circular  shapes 

16.  Forging  of  axles,  shafts  and  similar  shapes 

FIFTH  PERIOD — THE  CONSTITUTION,  HEAT  TREATMENT   AND 
COMPOSITION  OF  STEEL — 2  MONTHS 

1.  The  structure  of  plain  steel 

2.  Thermal  critical  points  for  plain  steel 

3.  The  crystalline  structure  of  steel 

4.  Heat  treatment  of  plain  steel 

5.  The  composition  of  steel 

Total,  24  months 

Apprentice  School. — To  study  the  apprenticeship 
provided  by  this  company  the  Duquesne  Works  were 
visited.  Here  apprenticeship  has  been  in  operation 
since  the  establishment  of  the  works,  although  sup- 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS      109 

plementary  instruction  in  a  corporation  school  has 
only  been  provided  during  the  past  seven  years. 
There  are  now  70  apprentices,  to  whose  instruction  a 
supervisor  gives  his  whole  attention  with  the  aid  of 
six  part-time  assistants  from  the  technical  staff. 

A  larger  variety  of  trades  are  recruited  in  this  plant 
by  apprenticeship  than  is  the  custom  in  many  plants, 
as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  summary  of  enroll- 
ment: 

Armature  winders 4  Masons 12 

Blacksmiths 1  Painters 1 

Machinists 38  Patternmakers  (at  present) ...  0 

Boilermakers 7  Pipefitters 5 

Carpenters 1  Roll  turners 1 

Total 70 

TVpntijr- favo  have  been  graduated  during  the  past 
three  years,  thus  at  an  average  of  a  little  over  seven 
per  year,  while  51  have  resigned,  a  mortality  which 
may  be  accounted  for  to  a  considerable  degree  by  the 
unsettlement  of  employment  conditions  attendant 
upon  the  late  war. 

The  work  which  provides  the  experience  for  the  ap- 
prentices, particularly  for  the  machinists,  but  in  gen- 
eral for  all  trades  except  those  in  the  nature  of  a 
specialty,  is  largely  provided  through  the  repair  and 
maintenance  jobs  always  to  be  found  in  a  large  plant, 
these  being  of  a  varied  nature  but  fruitful  in  providing 
a  broad  general  experience  for  the  all-round  mechanic. 
To  insure  that  these  will  embrace  all  the  operations 
to  be  expected  of  a  trained  worker  in  the  trade  being 
pursued,  and  to  rate  the  quality  of  workmanship, 
intelligence,  and  general  attitude  displayed  in  per- 


110  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

formance,  the  supervisor  keeps  on  file  a  record  for 
each  six  months  of  each  boy's  apprenticeship.  This 
provides  for  a  job  number  for  the  jobs  or  operations 
which  have  been  performed,  with  the  problems  which 
have  been  selected  as  suitable  to  accompany  the  same. 
This  form  is  mimeographed  on  letter-size  paper  and 
provides  for  weekly  entries. 

The  supplementary  instruction  is  for  four  hours  a 
week  on  the  company's  time  and  is  divided  into  two- 
hour  periods,  seven  to  nine  in  the  morning  for  those 
on  day  shifts  and  five-thirty  to  seven-thirty  in  the 
evening  for  those  who  are  on  night  duty.  The  classes 
run  through  the  usual  school  year  of  ten  months  and 
continue  throughout  the  four  years  of  apprenticeship. 
The  instruction  provided  is  in  drawing,  mathematics, 
and  the  science  related  to  the  industry  and  trade  con- 
cerned, in  which  subjects  the  excellent  books  now  pub- 
lished are  utilized  as  texts. 

It  should  be  noted  that,  as  far  as  possible,  classes 
are  differentiated  according  to  trades.  This  permits 
the  assignment  of  problems  and  drafting  of  a  kind 
which  will  have  definite  utility  in  the  trade  which  the 
apprentice  is  pursuing.  Naturally,  where  the  number 
in  a  trade  is  too  small  to  warrant  forming  a  class,  the 
individuals  concerned  are  placed  in  the  class  where 
the  instruction  will  be  most  closely  allied  to  the  work 
of  their  respective  trades. 

The  complete  record  of  the  apprentice  throughout 
the  four  years  of  service  is  entered  on  a  cumulative 
blank.  Both  class  and  shop  records  call  for  exact 
reports  of  attendance  and  estimates  of  intelligence, 
attitude,  workmanship  and  speed,  while  in  the  shop 
record  an  additional  rating  on  general  value  is  called 


SOME  VARIED   COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS      111 

for.     All  these  ratings  are  then  averaged  and  provide 
the  combined  rating  for  each  term. 

Night  School. — During  the  past  winter  the  com- 
pany has  for  the  first  time  maintained  a  night  school, 
in  which  there  was  an  enrollment  of  150.  The  school 
finished  with  45  per  cent  of  the  enrollment,  which 
compares  favorably  with  most  evening  trade  exten- 
sion schools.  This  represents  a  fourth  type  of  edu- 
cational endeavor  existing  in  this  corporation,  the 
importance  of  which  may  be  expected  to  increase 
with  expanding  facilities. 


No.  13 
NATIONAL  CASH  REGISTER  COMPANY,  DAYTON,  OHIO 

The  National  Cash  Register  Company  have  a 
country-wide  reputation  for  their  welfare  work. 
Such  phases  as  may  be  considered  as  definitely  em- 
ployee training  and  education  are  not  so  well  known. 
They  will  be  discussed  as  embraced  under  the  follow- 
ing four  heads:  (1)  Apprenticeship;  (2)  Upgrading 
Courses;  (3)  Health  and  Safety  Education;  and 
(4)  Evening  Instruction. 

(1)  Apprenticeship. — An  elaborate  scheme  of  ap- 
prenticeship has  been  laid  out  mainly  on  the  co- 
operative principle,  which  may  be  extended  by  a 
university  course  in  engineering.  The  plan  calls  for 
the  completion  of  two  years  of  high  school  previous 
to  entrance.  The  boy  who  has  made  normal  progress 
should  then  be  at  least  sixteen  years  of  age  as  required 
by  the  indenture  agreement  and  be  well  prepared  to 
enter  upon  his  apprenticeship  which  he  is  to  pursue 


112  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

for  two  years  on  the  co-operative  basis,  one  week  in 
school  and  one  at  work  in  the  factory.  It  is  then  ex- 
pected that  he  will  have  completed  high  school.  The 
alternatives  are  then  open  to  him  either  to  complete 
his  apprenticeship  in  two  years  with  part-time  instruc- 
tion one.  afternoon  a  week  or  to  follow  a  five  years' 
course  at  the  University  of  Cincinnati  on  a  co-opera- 
tive basis. 

The  co-operative  high  school  in  which  the  appren- 
tices embark  on  their  apprenticeship  by  attendance 
on  alternate  weeks  has  some  unique  features.  It  is 
in  session  throughout  the  year  for  fifty  weeks,  so  that 
the  boys  have  twenty-five  weeks  of  instruction  with 
their  twenty-six  weeks  of  practical  work  at  the  plant, 
thus  providing  for  one  week  of  vacation  only  each 
year.  Moreover,  the  school  is  in  session  for  seven 
hours  a  day,  five  days  a  week. 

Saturday  mornings  of  the  school  week,  except  dur- 
ing the  months  of  July,  August,  and  September,  the 
boys  report  to  the  plant  for  special  instruction  in 
which  they  are  addressed  by  company  officials  or  shop 
foremen  on  Shop  Methods,  Factory  Systems  and  the 
like.  As  these  meetings  are  in  the  factory  school 
building,  which  is  equipped  with  moving  picture  ap- 
paratus and  reflectors,  the  subjects  presented  can  be 
very  effectively  and  entertainingly  developed.  This 
is  intended  to  co-ordinate  the  school  and  shop. 

The  course  of  study  at  the  school  seems  well  planned 
for  the  purpose,  providing  instruction  in  Mathe- 
matics, History  and  Civics,  Drawing,  English,  Shop 
Practice,  Physics,  and  Chemistry. 

The  work  in  the  plant  is  supervised  by  a  thoroughly 
experienced  mechanic,  who  superintends  the  trans- 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS      113 

fers  from  one  department  to  another  and  sees  that  the 
opportunity  is  provided  for  all  types  of  practice. 

This  practice  has  been  laid  out  with  a  great  deal  of 
care  and  a  printed  chart  drawn  up  which  is  practically 
a  complete  trade  analysis  calling  for  a  fixed  number 
of  months  at  each  operation.  This  chart  is  placed  in 
the  hands  of  all  the  foremen  concerned,  with  the  re- 
quirement that  it  be  rigorously  followed,  in  order  to 
assure  the  complete  acquisition  of  the  respective 
trades.  This  facilitates  the  handling  of  the  appren- 
tices rather  than  making  it  more  difficult,  as  a  definite 
group  of  machines  and  operations  can  thus  be  set  aside 
for  this  purpose  through  which  the  apprentices  pro- 
gress by  orderly  schedule. 

Previous  to  the  inauguration  of  the  co-operative 
apprentice  course,  a  survey  was  made  of  the  tool- 
making,  machine,  and  modelmaking  departments  to 
discover  how  many  apprentices  could  be  satisfactorily 
provided  for.  Based  upon  this  investigation,  the 
following  quotas  were  established : 

Toolmaking  Department,  20  apprentices 
General  Machine  Department,  16  apprentices 
Model-Making  Department,  16  apprentices 
Special  Machine  Department,  4  apprentices 

As  there  is  a  hierarchy  of  trades  in  this  field,  tool- 
making  being  given  chief  place,  an  incentive  to  ex- 
traordinary effort  is  given  by  promising  that  any 
vacancies  in  the  quota  of  that  department  will  be 
filled  by  transferring  one  or  more  from  other  depart- 
ments. Also,  as  tool  designing  offers  superior  oppor- 
tunities to  the  other  branches,  apprentices  to  that 
department  are  obtained  by  selecting  the  most  promis- 


114 


EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 


ing  young  men  from  the  four  departments  already 
mentioned. 

Having  graduated  from  high  school  and  completed 


SCHOOL  REPORT 


ii 


il 


FIG.  1. — Apprentice  Cumulative  Record  on  File  in  Supervisor's  Office. 

the  first  two  years  of  apprenticeship,  two  courses  are 
open  either  to  complete  the  acquisition  of  the  trade 
upon  which  the  boy  has  embarked  or  to  go  to  the  uni- 
versity, as  already  mentioned. 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS      115 

If  he  chooses  the  first  plan  of  continuing  in  the  trade, 
one  afternoon  of  part-time  instruction  is  provided 
each  week-  at  the  school  in  Drawing,  Shop  Mathe- 
matics, Machine  Tools,  and  a  quarter  hour  of  Health 
Instruction. 

The  present  enrollment  based  on  this  program  is  as 
follows : 

40  co-operative  half-time  apprentices 
21  third  and  fourth  year  apprentices 
18  co-operative  university  students 

The  apprentices  are  distributed  as  follows:  Tool- 
makers,  46;  Electricians,  2;  Draftsmen,  6;  Pattern- 
makers, 1;  Machinists,  5. 

The  first  group  of  co-operative  apprentices  are  paid 
27J  cents  per  hour  for  the  time  they  are  working  in 
the  shop,  with  increases  of  2|  cents  every  six  months 
up  to  their  third  year.  After  that  they  are  paid  what 
they  are  considered  worth.  This  was  stated  to  be 
usually  around  50  cents  an  hour  for  the  fifty-four 
hour  week.  There  is  no  piece  work  throughout  the 
course. 

Careful  records  are  kept  of  each  apprentice  on  the 
record  card  here  shown  (Fig.  1)  and  regular  reports 
are  made  to  parents  on  the  Report  Card  (Fig.  2). 
Transfers  are  recorded  and  handled  through  the  use 
of  the  Transfer  Card  (Fig.  3). 

The  eighteen  university  students  are  divided  as  fol- 
lows: 

Electrical  Engineers 5 

Mechanical  Engineers 9 

Chemical  Engineers 2 

Commercial  Engineers 2 

It  was  stated  that  only  two  or  three  had  spent  their 
whole  five  years  in  the  plant. 


116 


EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 


8 


$ 


73 


8 


02 


Ex 


u 


Excepti 
Accu 


Ex 


3* 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS      117 

Their  pay  starts  at  35  cents  an  hour  with  gradual 
increases  so  that  for  the  third,  fourth  and  fifth  years 
it  is  45,  47f  and  50  cents  an  hour. 

Records  were  stated  to  show  that,  so  far,  49  per 
cent  of  the  apprentices,  on  completing  the  course, 
stay  with  the  company. 


THE   NATIONAL   CASH    REGISTER  COMPANY 
APPRENTICE  RECORD  CARD 


Attend*  Co-operative  School.  Commencing 


-Parent  or  Cuudian- 
Fmi,hing 
Finuhini 
Firmhing 


Section: 

D»y 

Section 


TRANSFERS  TO  TAKE  EFFECT  AS  FOLLOWS: 

Dep«. 

Oat 

Rate 

Check 

Number 

Dtrf 

Dttt 

Ran 

dock 
Number 

De* 

DM 

feu 

Ch.tk 
Numbfr 

,,.{ 


Cooperative  apprentice.  2  ye»r«  yet  to  go. 
Continuation  apprentice.  2  yeart  yet  to  go. 
University  of  Cincinnati  apprentice.  5  yeari  yet  to  go. 


FIG.  3.— Apprentice  Transfer  Card. 


Upgrading  Courses. — The  provision  for  training 
repairmen  and  salesmen  offer  interesting  examples  of 
upgrading  or  promotional  training. 

Of  the  repairmen  there  are  at  present  140  following 
the  course,  which  is  ordinarily  ten  months  in  length, 
though  if  'any  young  man  exhibits  extraordinary 
adaptability,  he  may  graduate  in  as  brief  a  time  as 


118  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

five  months.  This  system  of  picking  the  best  trained 
to  be  transferred  to  regular  work  irrespective  of  length 
of  training  acts  as  an  excellent  spur  to  attentive  learn- 
ing. 

Those  chosen  for  the  course  are  carefully  picked,  as 
the  company  is  at  considerable  expense  in  bringing 
each  one  up  to  the  desired  skill.  Many  of  them  are 
chosen  from  the  assemblers  in  the  plant  and  some  of 
them  are  sent  in  from  the  company's  branch  offices. 

The  age  limitations  are  twenty-one  to  twenty-five 
and  single  men  are  preferred.  The  pay  while  learning 
is  fixed  at  the  uniform  rate  of  $25  a  week. 

Instruction  is  provided  by  an  instructor,  an  assist- 
ant instructor,  and  an  inspector  for  each  group  of 
25  men.  The  instruction  is  sufficiently  rigorous  so 
that  it  is  expected  50  per  cent  will  be  eliminated  before 
completing  the  course.  Each  separate  device  is 
taught  and  then  the  assembling  of  the  various  models. 
It  adds  considerably  to  the  extent  of  the  course  that 
construction  of  discontinued  as  well  as  modern  models 
must  be  learned,  as,  of  course,  all  types  are  met  with 
in  actual  practice.  After  this  preliminary  instruc- 
tion is  covered,  the  students  spend  their  time  on  re- 
pairing and  rebuilding  machines  sent  in  for  the  pur- 
pose, until  they  are  considered  competent. 

The  supplementary  instruction  consists  of  an  hour 
a  day  of  motion  picture  and  stereopticon  lectures. 
In  these  are  presented  all  phases  of  the  work  as  fully 
as  possible  by  that  means. 

Of  course,  there  is  a  steady  demand  for  all  graduates 
and  many  find  the  work  a  stepping  stone  to  an  ap- 
pointment as  salesman,  so  that  an  opportunity  to 
take  the  course  is  eagerly  sought. 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS      119 

Somewhat  similar  methods  are  followed  in  the  school 
for  salesmen,  although  the  course  is  somewhat  briefer. 
Men  for  the  purpose  are  selected  largely  by  the  dis- 
trict managers  and  put  into  the  field  for  three  months, 
six  months,  or  a  year.  If  the  district  manager  then 
decides  they  are  satisfactory  material,  they  are  ad- 
mitted to  the  school. 

Three  sessions  are  held  yearly  with  each  group 
limited  to  50  men  and  the  length  of  the  course  to  five 
weeks.  Students'  expenses,  except  transportation, 
are  borne  by  the  company.  The  school  is  in  charge 
of  one  instructor  who  is  an  experienced  National  Cash 
Register  salesman.  There  is  a  carefully  prepared 
course  of  study  which  is  closely  followed.  Written 
examinations  are  also  given  to  assure  that  the  men 
work.  Diplomas  are  awarded  to  show  that  they  have 
completed  the  course.  After  completing  this  in- 
struction, the  men  return  to  the  positions  from  which 
they  came,  with  the  expectation  that  improved  sales 
will  justify  the  time  and  cost  of  the  course. 

From  1903  to  1908  the  policy  of  the  company  was 
to  take  new  men  who  had  made  a  success  of  their 
previous  business,  put  them  in  school  to  learn  this 
line  of  salesmanship  and  then  place  them  in  the 
field.  As  a  result,  but  26.4  per  cent  made  good  dur- 
ing that  period.  In  1908  the  new  policy  was  adopted 
of  trying  the  men  out  in  the  field  before  putting  them 
in  the  school.  Some  men  do  not  like  the  business 
and  quit  before  they  get  to  the  school.  Others,  the 
sales  managing  force  do  not  find  desirable  and  they 
are  allowed  to  go  before  getting  into  the  course.  By 
the  latter  policy  they  have  78  per  cent  successful 
salesmen  who  have  gone  through  the  course. 


120  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

(3)  Health  and  Safety  Education. — All  progressive 
companies,  particularly  under  the  operation  of  em- 
ployer's liability  laws,  are  devoting  increased  atten- 
tion to  installation  of  safety  devices  and  publicity 
campaigns  to  warn  employees  against  dangerous  or 
unsanitary  practices,  in  all  of  which  this  company 
have  been  pioneers. 

They  have,  however,  also  realized  that  chronic  or 
temporary  ill  health  or  low  vitality  of  an  employee 
represents  a  loss  to  the  company  through  absences 
and  reduced  production  when  at  work.  Therefore 
they  have  devoted  a  great  deal  of  effort  and  money 
to  health  education  as  means  of  reducing  these  losses. 

Twice  a  week  there  is  provided  a  lecture  or  talk  on 
Health  and  Safety  which  new  employees  are  required 
to  attend.  This  is  illustrated  by  moving  picture  and 
steropticon. 

In  this  are  explained  the  assistance  provided  by  the 
company  toward  promoting  a  healthful  community 
and  good  working  conditions:  The  Visiting  Nurse, 
the  Free  Dental  Clinic,  and  First  Aid  facilities.  As 
safety  instruction,  concrete  cases  are  mentioned  of 
instances  which  have  occurred  in  the  plant  where 
serious  results  have  attended  failure  to  utilize  the 
accident  prevention  measures.  The  lecture  is  also 
considered  a  favorable  time  to  present  other  aids  to 
health  and  comfort  of  employees.  Among  these  are 
bathing  facilities,  dining  halls,  the  company's  exten- 
sion educational  facilities,  relief  associations,  and 
provisions  for  employees'  social  life. 

Other  lectures  are  frequently  provided  on  special 
phases  of  hygiene  as  a  part  of  the  evening  extension 
education  of  which  a  description  here  follows. 


SOME  VARIED  COMPREHENSIVE  PROGRAMS      121 

(4)  Evening  and  Noon  Hour  Instruction. — Evening 
instruction  has  for  a  long  time  been  provided  under 
the  caption  of  "  Owl  Classes."  They  are  noteworthy 
not  so  much  on  account  of  their  variety  or  numbers  in 
attendance  as  for  the  defmiteness  and  practicality  of 
the  instruction.  Altogether  there  are  12  courses 
provided,  with  four  to  five  hundred  registering  each 
year.  There  is  a  course  on  Advertising  and  Printing 
for  the  printers  and  pressmen,  another  is  in  Account- 
ing, a  third  is  in  Agency  Office  Practice,  while  Me- 
chanical Drawing  and  Shop  Ma-thematics  are  pro- 
vided for  those  who  wish  to  advance  themselves  in  the 
shops.  Courses  in  Salesmanship  have  been  particu- 
larly useful  in  aiding  employees  to  enter  that  field. 
Other  offerings  are  Public  Speaking,  Home  Economics, 
and  a  Spanish  Class.  A  former  residence  of  the  com- 
pany's president  provides  the  down  town  center  for 
these  classes. 

At  the  plant  a  class  for  male  stenographers  has  also 
been  provided  from  four  to  five-thirty  in  the  after- 
noon. This  was  attended  by  about  forty. 

Alongside  of  the  factory  there  is  the  company's 
"  Schoolhouse,"  which  contains  an  auditorium  seating 
1,200  people.  Here  noon  hour  or  evening  movies  or 
lectures  are  provided  daily.  Probably  the  chief  vir- 
tue of  this  is  the  diversion  provided,  but  it  has  been  a 
convenient  means  for  reaching  the  employees  in  the 
matter  of  health,  community  improvement  by  land- 
scape gardening  and  the  like. 

As  regards  the  matter  of  intensive  training  in  this 
plant,  no  vestibule  schools  are  maintained,  but  the 
idea  of  training  on  the  departmental  basis  is  part 
of  the  recognized  scheme.  Throughout  the  factory 


122  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

• 
72  "  try-out  "  men  or  girls  act  as  instructors.     Each 

of  these  is  a  skilled  mechanic  or  operative  and  part  of 
their  duties  is  to  aid  the  operatives  in  bringing  their 
work  up  to  standard  production. 


SECTION  II 

PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING 
APPRENTICESHIP 


CHAPTER  IV 

TRADITIONAL     APPRENTICE  SHIP 
MODERNIZED 

SEVERAL  manufacturing  companies  in  the  United 
States  have  a  long  established  record  for  the  main- 
tenance of  apprenticeship.  In  general,  it  has  been 
practiced  as  a  profitable  enterprise.  It  is,  however, 
usually  justified  as  a  means  of  building  up  a  group  of 
loyal  skilled  workmen  among  whom  can  be  found 
foremen  with  the  right  characteristics  for  responsibil- 
ity and  with  a  knowledge  of  the  traditions  and  man- 
ufacturing methods  of  the  company. 

In  general,  it  can  be  said  that  there  seems  to  be  in 
these  companies  conducting  apprentice  training  de- 
partments a  sincere  effort  to  train  skilled  workmen. 
Capable  men  are  ordinarily  in  charge  of  the  appren- 
tice departments.  These  are  given  authority  to 
transfer  the  apprentices  so  that  they  will  get  experi- 
ence at  all  types  of  machines.  None  of  the  five  com- 

123 


124  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

panics  cited  in  this  chapter,  however,  have  a  separate 
training  shop,  which  is  becoming  a  prevailing  practice 
in  the  larger  corporations.  All,  however,  provide  a 
good  school  for  the  supplementary  instruction  and, 
usually,  on  the  company's  time. 

No.  14 
R.  HOE  &  Co.  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY 

R.  Hoe  &  Co.  are  long  established  manufacturers  of 
printing  presses  in  New  York  city.  For  forty-eight 
years,  since  1872,  they  have  maintained  an  apprentice 
school  to  supplement  the  acquisition  of  a  skilled  trade 
by  the  traditional  method  of  working  alongside  of 
journeymen  at  regular  factory  production. 

Ninety  per  cent  of  the  manufacturing  administra- 
tive force  are  said  to  be  graduates  of  the  school  as 
well  as  all  of  the  40  to  60  high  grade  men  employed 
outside  the  factory  in  installing  their  presses.  The 
school  has  thus  high  favor  with  the  management  of 
the  company,  a  factor  which  greatly  lessens  the  danger 
of  exploiting  the  apprentices  by  keeping  them  at  ma- 
chines or  processes  long  after  they  have  completely 
learned  them,  as  is  frequently  the  case  where  foremen 
and  managers  are  not  themselves  apprentice  trained. 
It  is  said  that  overtime  production  is  not  allowed  to 
interfere  with  attendance  at  the  school  and  that  ap- 
prentices are  never  laid  off  during  even  the  dullest 
seasons. 

To  be  accepted  as  an  apprentice  a  boy  must  be 
sixteen  years  to  eighteen  years  of  age  and  a  graduate 
of  the  elementary  school  with  the  preference  that  he 
come  directly  from  school  rather  than  after  a  series  of 


TRADITIONAL  APPRENTICESHIP  MODERNIZED     125 

casual  employments  during  which,  their  experience 
leads  them  to  believe,  he  too  frequently  contracts 
habits  of  insubordination  and  shiftlessness.  In  addi- 
tion to  educational  requirements,  a  simple  test  for 
mechanical  deftness  is  imposed  by  requiring  the  candi- 
date to  put  together  a  mechanical  construction  toy. 

A  ratio  of  one  apprentice  to  five  journeymen  cannot 
be  exceeded  by  agreement  with  the  machinists'  union. 
On  this  basis  there  were  on  April  16,  1920,  when  the 
investigation  was  made,  173  apprentices.  About 
60  apprentices  are  taken  on  each  year,  the  mortality 
being  heaviest  during  the  first  two  years. 

Apprenticeship  is  offered  in  the  following  trades: 

Foundry  with  3  years'  course  and      2  enrolled 

Machinists  "    4      "         "       ''160 

Electricians          "    4      "         "       "        1       " 
Sawsmiths  "    3      "          "        "        5       " 

Patternmakers     "    5      "          "       "        5       " 

Total 173 

Over  90  per  cent  of  the  enrollment  is  seen  to  be  in 
the  machinists'  trade. 

Rates  of  pay  for  machinists'  apprentices  are  as 
follows: 

1st  year  16^  per  hour ...  $  7 . 04  per  wk. 

2dyear  24£       "        ...   10.56      " 

3d  year  42^       "        ...   18.48      " 

1st  six  months  4th  year  56£       ' '        ...  24 . 64      ' ' 

2d    "        "      4thyear70ff       "        ...  30.80      " 

Shop  Work  of  Apprentices. — The  shop  schedule  of 
the  foundry  apprentices  is  outlined  as  follows:  six 
months  helping  moulder  on  the  floor,  tempering  sand, 
etc.;  six  months  coremaking;  six  months  on  bench; 


126  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

nine  months  on  floor;  and  nine  months  on  dry  sand 
work.  Total,  three  years. 

For  the  machinists  the  schedule  is  divided  into 
four  groups.  Group  No.  1  is  for  one  month  at  "  Gen- 
eral "  work,  Tool  Room  or  Cutting-off  machines. 
Group  No.  2  is  at  Drill  Press  two  months,  Vice,  two 
months;  Boring  Mill,  two  months,  and  Key  Machine 
and  Hand  Monitor,  two  months,  or  Blotter,  two 
months.  Group  No.  3  is  at  Planer,  six  months;  Gear 
Cutter,  six  months;  Miller,  five  months;  Lathe,  ten 
months.  Group  No.  4  is  at  erecting,  twelve  months. 
Total,  forty-eight  months. 

Sawmaking  is  to  be  considered  a  special  phase  of 
smithing  and  an  interesting  example  of  surviving 
hand  craftsmanship  in  industry.  The  apprentices 
spend  the  following  periods  on  the  various  classes  of 
work:  Anvil,  six  months;  Punching,  three  months; 
Repairing  saws,  three  months;  Shanks,  three  months; 
Bit  Room,  three  months;  Setting  and  Filing,  six 
months;  Hardening,  six  months;  Anvil,  two  years 
six  months.  This  implies  that  five  years  are  required 
before  reaching  full  journeyman's  standing. 

The  Patternmakers  serve  for  two  years  at  various 
classes  of  work  under  a  master  patternmaker  followed 
by  nine  months  in  the  foundry  to  learn  the  difficulties 
encountered  in  casting  from  a  pattern,  in  order  that 
their  patterns  may  be  so  constructed  as  to  meet  these 
difficulties.  They  then  return  to  the  pattern  shop  to 
complete  their  time. 

School  Work  of  Apprentices. — At  considerable  ex- 
pense the  apprentice  school  has  been  installed  in  a 
section  loft  equipped  with  three  classrooms,  a  drafting 
room  and  a  library,  besides  a  lunch  room.  The  lunch 


TRADITIONAL  APPRENTICESHIP  MODERNIZED     127 

room  was  installed  so  that  coffee  and  sandwiches 
could  be  given  the  boys  in  the  intermission  between 
the  closing  of  the  shop  at  five  and  the  classes  which 
begin  at  5.20  and  end  at  6.45. 

The  school  personnel  consists  of  a  supervisor,  a 
drafting  instructor  and  three  teachers  who  handle  the 
mathematics,  English,  and  Mechanics.  The  super- 
visor, who  divides  his  time  between  directing  the 
school  and  office  work  in  handling  the  installation 
crews,  is  himself  a  graduate  of  the  school.  The 
drafting  instructor  is  drawn  from  the  company's 
drafting  room  staff  and  the  other  instructors  are 
technical  graduates  with  positions  in  the  city  but 
not  otherwise  in  the  company's  employ. 

Owing  to  the  relative  large  size  of  the  school  with  all 
students  pursuing  a  uniform  course,  instruction  can 
be  graded  to  suit  the  previous  training  of  the  appren- 
tice and  to  provide  instruction  suited  to  his  attain- 
ments, no  matter  at  what  time  of  year  he  may  enter 
the  school.  For  this  reason  the  curriculum  is  cut 
into  seven  units  designated  as  C-3,  C-2,  C-l,  B-3, 
B-2,  B-l,  and  A.  Ordinary  students  are  expected  to 
complete  this  in  three  years,  the  C  units  their  first 
year,  B  units  their  second  year,  and  A  their  third 
year. 

The  weekly  time  division  is  as  follows: 

Class  C-3 

First  night.      Freehand  Drawing 1     hour 

Mathematics,  Review  of  fractions,  decimals, 

ratio,  square  root,  etc %     " 

Second  night.  Mathematics 1       ' ' 

English,  Oral  and  written  composition. 
Punctuation  and  general  expression  of 
thought £  " 


128  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Third  night.     English 1  hour 

Mathematics £  ' ' 

Class  C-2 

First  night.      Freehand  Drawing 1  " 

Mathematics,    Mensuration,     Simple  equa- 
tions in  Algebra,  Problems  illustrated  by 

freehand  sketches ^  ' ' 

Second  night.  Mathematics 1  " 

English  continuation  of  C-3 £  " 

Third  night.     English 1  " 

Class  C-l 

First  night.      Drawing — Mechanical  drawing  commenced.   1       " 
Mathematics,  Constructive  Geometry.  Only 
such  problems  considered  as  can  be  done 
with  the  aid  of  compass  and  straight-edge .   \     " 
Second  night.  Mechanics — Heat,  Air,  Liquid,  Power  and 
work  with  problems  and  experiments  re- 
quiring simple  apparatus 1^  hours 

Third  night.     English  continued 1  hour 

Mathematics \     " 

Class  B-3 

First  night.      Mechanical  Drawing  continued labours 

Second  night.  Geometry,  theoretical  with  proofs  of  simpler 
problems.    Trigonometry  of  the  right  tri- 
angle.    Use  of  tables  of  Natural  Functions  1  hour 
English — Written  work,  description  and  ex- 
position       £hour 

Third  night.     Mechanics.    Mechanical  forces  and  Friction .   labours 

Class  B-2 

First  night.       Mechanics — Gear  teeth  and  gearing 1|     " 

Second  night.  Mechanical  Drawing — Gears  showing  char- 
acteristics of  involute  and  cycloidal  teeth 

in  the  general  method  of  designing 1£      ' ' 

Third  night.  Mathematics — Strength  of  materials  espe- 
cially applied  to  proper  proportions  and 

materials  for  machine  parts 1     hour 

English  continued \     " 

Class  B-l 

First  night.  Mechanical  Drawing.  Freehand  sketching. 
Demensioning  and  lettering  of  plans, 
sketches  and  data  for  making  prints labours 


TRADITIONAL  APPRENTICESHIP   MODERNIZED     129 

Second  night.  Mechanics — Power  transmission  as  used  in  a 
factory.  Pulleys,  shafting,  belting,  gear- 
ing. Electricity — what  it  is  and  how  it 

operates 1    hour 

English — Report  writing  and  similar  work. .     £     " 

Third  night.     Mechanics  continued 1|  hours 

Class  A 

First  night.  Mechancial  Drawing.  Freehand  detail 
drawings  for  the  different  parts  of  a  simple 
machine  such  as  Belt  Shifter  arrangement 
and  from  these  make  up  a  general  assembly  1£  " 

Second  night.  Mechanics — Essentials  of  Machine  Design- 
ing   I*  " 

Careful  records  are  kept  of  the  progress  of  the  ap- 
prentice, both  in  his  shopwork  and  in  the  apprentice 
school,  term  reports  being  sent  to  the  parent  and  prizes 
being  conferred  on  those  with  the  best  records  in  both 
shopwork  and  school  at  the  annual  closing  exercises 
held  in  June. 

The  apparent  high  quality  of  the  apprentices  in 
this  plant  and  the  generous  provision  for  their  in- 
struction, both  in  the  shop  and  school,  would  lead 
one  to  believe  that  the  management  is  employing 
considerable  effort  in  the  training  of  its  future  me- 
chanics. The  program  may  be  commended  as  an 
example  of  satisfactory  modernized  apprenticeship. 

No.  15 
THE  PRATT  AND  WHITNEY  Co.,  HARTFORD,  CONN. 

The  Pratt  and  Whitney  Co.  has  provided  appren- 
tice training  for  fifty-three  years.  Previous  to  1916, 
for  two  or  three  years  the  boys  were  sent  for  supple- 
mentary training  to  the  continuation  school  provided 
by  the  public  school  authorities  of  the  city  of  Hart- 


130  EMPLOYEE   TRAINING 

ford;  but,  finding  the  arrangement  unsatisfactory, 
the  company  again  organized  its  own  apprentice 
school. 

There  are  at  present  50  boys  in  the  course.  Most 
of  them  are  in  the  machinist's  trade  with  a  four-year 
agreement,  though  there  are  several  draftsmen,  usually 
high  school  graduates,  for  whom  the  course  is  three 
years  in  length,  and  also  one  or  two  in  the  pattern- 
maker's trade. 

A  supervisor  who  is  a  technical  graduate  with  an 
extended  shop  experience  with  this  company,  is  em- 
ployed on  full  time  to  conduct  the  school.  With  one 
assistant  he  teaches  the  supplementary  classes  one- 
half  day  a  week  to  each  with  instruction  in  mechan- 
ical drawing,  shop-mathematics  and  science  likewise 
related  to  industry. 

The  apprentice  wage  rate  is  as  follows:  23  cents 
per  hour  for  the  first  year;  25  cents  for  the  second; 
28  cents  for  the  third;  and  32  cents  for  the  fourth, 
all  being  based  on  a  forty-eight  hour  week.  A  one  to 
six  cent  bonus  is  also  paid,  two  to  four  cents  for  ex- 
cellence in  shopwork,  and  one  to  two  cents  for  scholar- 
ship. A  $100  bonus  is  paid  at  the  completion  of  the 
course,  when  promotion  is  made  to  the  standard 
wages  of  the  shop. 

The  equipment  of  the  apprentice  school  seems 
notably  good.  One  might  mention,  for  example,  the 
library,  a  piano,  a  projectoscope,  and  standard  draft- 
ing room  equipment.  The  school  area  is  partitioned 
off  from  a  section  of  the  plant  originally  equipped  with 
a  variety  of  machines  as  a  training  department, 
which  it  seems  unfortunate  has  not  been  continued 
to  provide  initial  training  for  the  apprentices. 


TRADITIONAL  APPRENTICESHIP   MODERNIZED     131 


No.   16 

BKOWN  AND  SHARPE  MANUFACTURING  Co., 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

No  discussion  of  apprenticeship  in  the  United 
States  would  be  complete  without  consideration  of 
the  apprentice  school  provided  by  the  Brown  and 
Sharpe  Company.  This  well  known  firm,  manufac- 
turing machine  tools,  in  order  to  maintain  the  quality 
of  its  products  has  been  equally  concerned  in  main- 
taining by  apprenticeship  the  quality  of  its  mechanics. 
The  management  is  justly  proud  of  its  record  that  for 
over  seventy  years  apprentices  have  been  trained  in 
their  employ. 

At  present,  among  a  working  force  of  seven  to  eight 
thousand  employees,  there  are  200  apprentices,  a 
number  which  it  was  stated,  however,  is  at  the  present 
time  being  increased.  These  are  distributed  as  fol- 
lows: 

Machinists 150 

Draftsmen 23 

Patternmakers,  Coremakers,  Moulders,  and  Black- 
smiths       27 

Total 200 

In  addition  to  these  there  are  25  students  employed 
in  the  drafting  and  machine  shop  departments  on  the 
half-time  basis  through  co-operation  with  the  local 
technical  high  school. 

The  supervisor  of  apprentices  states  that  their 
records  show  that  95  per  cent  of  those  who  sign  the 
indenture  agreement  remain  throughout  the  course 


132  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

and  that  75  per  cent  of  those  who  start  the  trial  period 
finish  to  graduation.  This  suggests  that  the  condi- 
tions of  apprenticeship  here  provided  are  satisfactory 
to  the  young  men  in  training. 

An  apprentice  school  is  provided,  with  classes  dur- 
ing work  hours,  having  one  two-hour  session  a  week 
during  the  first  two  years  of  apprenticeship  and  with 
two  two-hour  sessions  weekly  during  the  third  and 
fourth  years.  In  order  to  provide  for  sufficient  indi- 
vidual instruction,  the  size  of  these  classes  is  limited 
to  18  students  in  each. 

A  far  more  careful  analysis  has  been  made  of  all 
the  operations  involved  in  the  trades  being  taught 
than  was  found  in  any  other  plant  visited.  Against 
this  analysis  the  shopwork  of  the  apprentice  is  checked 
to  insure  that  not  only  is  the  apprentice  transferred 
from  one  department  and  one  machine  to  another, 
but  that  experience  in  all  useful  operations  is  covered. 
This  requires  a  considerable  amount  of  recording  and 
use  of  files  which  the  management  believes  is  justified 
in  order  that  every  element  of  the  trade  may  be  taught. 
There  are  also  shop  instructors  provided  not  to  re- 
lieve the  foreman  of  any  responsibility  to  the  boys, 
but  to  act  as  an  additional  help  to  both. 

The  school  course  is  in  the  form  of  lesson  sheets, 
on  which  the  work  is  done  by  the  apprentices.  These 
become  their  property  at  the  completion  of  their  ap- 
prenticeship, so  that  they  can  make  use  of  them  in 
their  later  work.  As  far  as  possible  it  was  stated 
that  there  is  correlation  between  shop  and  school 
work  during  the  course  of  apprenticeship.  "  Prob- 
lems are  approached  from  a  standpoint  somewhat 


TRADITIONAL  APPRENTICESHIP  MODERNIZED     133 

different  from  that  which  is  usual.  Without  the  use 
of  text-books,  and  without  the  learning  of  rules  and 
formulas,  problems  are  presented  as  they  would  arise 
in  the  shop,  except  that  they  are  in  regular  sequence 
as  to  subject  and  difficulty.  They  are  taken  up  with 
such  reference  books  and  tables  at  hand  as  should  be 
in  the  possession  of  intelligent  workmen,  and  the  boys 
are  taught  to  use  such  means  to  solve  the  problems. 
They  are  not  taught  algebra,  geometry,  trigonometry, 
etc.,  as  such,  but  are  instructed  in  the  applications  of 
the  principles  of  these  subjects  to  the  practical  prob- 
lems of  the  shop." 

One  interesting  record  kept  of  the  apprentice  is 
that  of  his  interviews  with  company  officials.  During 
his  last  two  years  of  apprenticeship,  every  six  months 
he  has  an  interview  with  a  company  official,  who  en- 
deavors to  discover  his  possibilities  and  interests. 
The  impressions  received  from  these  interviews  form 
a  series  of  four  letters  which  are  filed  with  the  cumu- 
lative record  of  the  apprentice.  These  interviews  are 
intended  to  serve  in  enlisting  the  loyalty  of  the  ap- 
prentice to  the  company  through  an  assurance  of  their 
personal  interest  in  his  welfare  and  probably  often 
aid  in  locating  promising  material  for  more  rapid 
promotion.  .:' 

Apprentices  are  rated  "  Excellent,"  "  Good," 
"  Fair,"  and  "  Poor,"  based  on  work  in  the  shops, 
class  record,  deportment,  attendance,  etc.  Those 
rated  "  Excellent  "  or  "  Good  "  are  rewarded  by  an 
hourly  bonus  varying  in  amounts  up  to  four  cents  an 
hour.  Upon  this  basis  rates  are  at  present  in  force  as 
follows : 


134 


EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 


1st  Yr. 

2dYr. 

3rd_Yr. 

4th  Yr. 

Machinists  and  Pattermakers  .  . 
Good  bonus 

$.20 
.01 

$.23 
.02 

$.28 
.02 

$.34 
.02 

Excellent  bonus  

.03 

.04 

.04 

.04 

Moulders  : 
Regular 

.28 

.32 

.38 

3yrs. 

Good  bonus  

02 

.03 

.03 

course 

1st 
6  Mos. 

2d 
6  Mos. 

3d 
6  Mos. 

Core  Makers 
Regular  

$.26 

$.28 

$.32 

Hyrs. 

Good  bonus  

.02 

.02 

.02 

course 

1st 
10  Mos. 

2d 
10  Mos. 

3d 
10  Mos. 

Draftsmen 
Regular                  

$.24 

$.30 

$.36 

2£yrs. 

Good                                  

.02 

.02 

.02 

course 

Excellent 

.04 

.04 

.04 

Blacksmiths 
Regular                          

.28 

.32 

.36 

3  yrs. 

Good 

.02 

.03 

.03 

course 

The  machinist  and  drafting  students  of  the  half- 
time  course  in  which  the  company  is  co-operating 
with  the  technical  high  school  receive  the  same  pay 
for  their  time  in  the  shops  and  drafting  offices  as  the 
corresponding  year  of  the  machinists  scheduled  above. 

The  company  carries  out  a  policy  which  is  not  usual 
in  apprenticeship  of  permitting  machinists,  moulders, 


TRADITIONAL  APPRENTICESHIP  MODERNIZED     135 

• 

and  coremakers  to  work  at  piece  work  or  contract 
work  after  the  first  period  of  initial  training.  The 
supervisor  states,  however,  that  this  system  is  not 
permitted  to  prevent  the  transfer  of  the  apprentice 
even  though  such  transfer  would  entail  a  financial 
loss  to  the  apprentice.  The  customary  piece  work 
rate  is  75  per  cent  of  journeyman's  rate  for  the  same 
work. 

The  company  carries  out  an  invariable  policy  of 
requiring  an  indenture  agreement  which  conforms  to 
the  usual  practice  in  most  respects.  The  one  note- 
worthy exception  is  that  the  apprentice,  or  rather  his 
father  or  guardian,  is  required  to  pay  $50  at  the  end 
of  the  three  months'  trial  period  as  compensation  for 
acceptance  of  the  young  man  as  an  apprentice.  The 
apprentice  is  also  required  to  purchase  a  set  of  ap- 
prentice tools  costing  $11.  Correspondingly,  the 
bonus  paid  at  the  end  of  apprenticeship  to  four-year 
apprentices  is  $150.  The  fee  required  of  drafting, 
foundry,  and  blacksmith  apprentices  is  $25  and  the 
bonuses  are  reduced  to  correspond  to  the  period  of 
training.  The  reputation  of  the  company  for  pro- 
viding good  apprenticeship  permits  them  to  make  this 
charge  and  still  secure  the  more  capable  young  men  as 
apprentices.  On  the  other  hand,  it  probably  deters 
the  less  serious-minded  fellows  from  starting  appren- 
ticeship and  provides  an  incentive  to  those  signing  the 
contract  to  complete  their  course,  in  order  to  recover 
their  investment  by  receiving  the  bonus.  That  the 
requirement  of  the  fee  may  not  work  a  hardship  to  a 
worthy  boy  when  he  cannot  pay  the  fee  outright,  he 
is  permitted  to  make  a  part  payment  and  to  pay  the 
balance  in  weekly  installments. 


136  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

•  Another  factor  which  may  well  be  noted  is  that  the 
year  for  computation  of  period  of  service  is  considered 
to  consist  of  2,450  working  hours,  which,  with  the 
usual  working  week  of  50  hours,  is  equal  to  295  work- 
ing days,  which  allows  the  apprentice  a  considerable 
period  each  year  for  recreation  which  may  be  taken  at 
such  time  or  times  as  the  company  may  direct. 

The  employment  of  technical  high  school  students 
on  a  half-time  basis  offered  an  opportunity  to  com- 
pare the  relative  advantages  of  the  co-operative 
system  with  regular  apprenticeship.  The  co-operative 
plan  is  that  of  one  week  in  school  and  one  week  in  shop, 
provided  by  pairing  boys  so  that  while  one  is  in  the 
plant  his  alternate  is  in  school.  It  will  be  seen  that 
there  is  no  tendency  to  displace  regular  apprentice- 
ship by  this  system,  as  there  are  only  25  part-time 
machinist  and  drafting  students  to  150  machinist  and 
23  drafting  apprentices.  On  the  whole,  it  seems  to 
work  better  in  the  case  of  draftsmen,  who  cannot 
well  obtain  too  much  technical  and  general  education, 
and  does  not  there  offer  any  serious  difficulty  if  one 
member  of  a  pair  of  alternates  drops  out.  This  is  a 
more  serious  matter  in  the  case  of  the  machinists  as, 
with  a  well  laid  out  system  of  progress  through  the 
shops,  it  is  not  desirable  to  pair  one  boy  who  has,  let 
us  say,  advanced  to  the  third  or  fourth  year  of  the 
course  with  one  just  beginning.  It  was  not  the  opin- 
ion of  the  apprentice  supervisor  that  the  co-operative 
students  were  more  likely  to  advance  ultimately  more 
rapidly  than  regular  apprentices  by  reason  of  their 
more  extended  general  education,  though  he  appre- 
ciated the  value  of  good  general  education  promised  by 
the  longer  continuance  in  school. 


TRADITIONAL  APPRENTICESHIP  MODERNIZED     137 

No.  17 

THE  WARNER  AND  SWASEY  COMPANY, 
CLEVELAND,  OHIO 

The  Warner  and  Swasey  Company  offer  a  superior 
opportunity  for  apprentices  to  learn  the  machinist's 
trade.  Altogether,  they  employ  89  apprentices  among 
their  working  force  of  1,400  employees.  Forty  to 
sixty  are  taken  on  each  year  and,  during  the  last  four 
years,  41  have  graduated,  which  is  thus  at  an  aver- 
age of  about  10  per  year.  The  mortality  of  appren- 
tices is  particularly  heavy  during  the  trial  period,  as 
an  especial  effort  is  made  to  eliminate  all  but  those 
who  show  superior  effort  and  adaptability. 

The  staff  of  the  apprentice  department  consists  of 
three  men  and  one  supervisor.  These  have  been 
selected  for  their  technical  and  mechanical  skill  and 
it  is  believed  offer  a  superior  quality  of  instruction. 

The  following  facts  were  presented  by  the  manage- 
ment as  outlining  the  conditions  of  apprenticeship 
with  the  company: 

No  boy  under  16  or  over  20  years  of  age  is  admitted. 

A  grammar  school  education  or  its  equivalent  is  compulsory. 

The  course  consists  of  four  periods  of  2500  working  hours  each. 

The  hour  rate  of  wages  is  25^,  27^,  30^,  and  32^,  35^,  37^,  40^, 

42^  for  each  six  months  respectively  for  the  four  years. 
Each  week's  schedule  includes  45  hours   shop  work  and  4  hours  school 

work  for  which  wages  are  paid. 
All  apprentices  work  in  the  following  departments  of  the  shop  under 

systematic  schedule: 

Drill  Press  Planing 

Milling  Machine  Assembling  and  Erecting 

Lathe  Fitting 

Turret  Lathe  Small  Tool 

Tool  Room  Grinding 


138  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

The  four  years'  course  of  study  embraces  Practical  Arithmetic,  Algebra, 
Geometry,  Trigonometry,  Mechanical  Drawing,  Machine  Design- 
ing, Physics,  Chemistry,  and  Structure  of  Metals,  Business  English, 
Shop  Practice,  and  Strength  of  Materials. 

An  Apprentice  Club,  affording  pleasant  social  and  athletic  features, 
is  an  additional  privilege. 

Quarterly  reports,  giving  in  detail  a  complete  record  of  each  appren- 
tice's work,  are  mailed  to  parents. 

Three  evenings  of  home  work  on  school  problems  are  required  each  week. 

A  bonus  of  one  hundred  dollars  ($100)  is  paid  upon  completion  of 
apprenticeship,  which,  with  the  wages,  makes  a  total  earning  of 
three  thousand  one  hundred  dollars  for  the  four  years. 

All  graduates,  according  to  their  capacity,  have  first  opportunity  for 
all  important  and  responsible  positions  with  the  company. 

A  good  paying  position  is  guaranteed  a  boy  upon  finishing  his  course. 

However,  no  boy,  upon  completion  of  his  course,  is  compelled  to  stay, 
but  is  free  to  go  wherever  he  desires. 

When  an  apprentice  graduates,  a  diploma  is  given  him,  also  a  gold  pin 
with  the  Company's  trade  mark  on  the  face,  and  the  graduate's 
name  and  date  of  graduation  engraved  upon  the  back. 


No.   18 
YALE  AND  TOWNE  MANUFACTURING  Co.,  STAMFORD,  CONN. 

The  Yale  and  Towne  Manufacturing  Company 
maintain  an  Apprentice  Training  School  and  a  Train- 
ing School  for  Productive  Employees,  both  being 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Director  of  Training 
Schools.  The  apprenticeship  system  was  established 
upon  the  present  well  organized  basis  in  1908.  There 
are  in  the  employ  of  the  company  about  5,500,  of 
whom  a  large  proportion  are  of  course  specialist 
operatives  on  the  various  products  of  the  company, 
chief  among  which  being  the  locks  and  builders'  hard- 
ware for  which  the  company  is  so  well  known. 

In  the  extensive  mechanical  equipment  required 
there  is,  however,  offered  a  large  opportunity  for 


TRADITIONAL  APPRENTICESHIP  MODERNIZED     139 

training  in  the  tool  and  diemaking  trades.  This  has 
occasioned  the  equipment  of  separate  tool  shops  for 
training  apprentices.  These  separate  training  shops 
offer  the  distinctive  feature  of  this  apprentice  depart- 
ment. 

More  than  one  hundred  apprentices  are  at  present 
in  training,  most  of  them  in  the  tool  and  die  making 
courses.  Those  in  other  trades  include  metal  pattern- 
makers, tool  designers,  product  draftsmen,  power  and 
plant  draftsmen,  electricians,  screw  machine  operators 
and  specialists  in  heat  treatment  of  steel. 

The  courses  in  screw  machine  operating  and  heat 
treatment  of  steel  cover  three  years,  all  other  courses 
being  of  four  years'  duration.  There  is  also  an  appren- 
tice agreement  entered  into  between  the  boy's  guard- 
ian and  the  director  of  the  school  as  representative 
of  the  company. 

As  nine-tenths  of  the  apprentices  are  in  the  tool 
and  diemaker's  course  their  training  will  first  be  con- 
sidered. During  the  first  three  or  four  months  a  very 
commendable  attempt  is  made  to  provide  a  real  trial 
course,  and  to  that  end  the  work  is  as  varied  as  it 
can  well  be  made  for  beginners.  There  is  much 
elementary  instruction  in  the  care  and  handling  of 
machine  tools  and  the  grinding  of  cutting  tools. 
With  this  is  provided  the  varied  experience  in  rough- 
ing out  of  regular  stock  tools  and  some  operations  in 
the  manufacture  of  small  machine  parts  upon  which 
an  estimate  can  be  made  of  the  mechanical  capacity 
of  the  potential  apprentice. 

If  the  young  man  proves  acceptable  the  next  fifteen 
months  are  spent  on  tool  work  which  has  been  graded 
into  three  classes  for  lathe,  three  for  milling  machines, 


140  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

two  for  grinders,  and  one  for  planer  and  shaper.  Each 
apprentice  completes  a  definite  amount  of  work  in  each 
class  but  does  not  cover  two  classes  on  the  same 
machine  in  succession.  The  purpose  of  this  intermit- 
tent training  on  the  various  machine  tools  is  to  give 
the  apprentice  during  the  early  part  of  his  course,  a 
thorough  training  in  the  handling  of  the  machines  used 
in  his  trade.  As  valuable  experience  in  other  types  of 
work  each  apprentice  from  this  room  also  completes 
one  month  in  the  millwright  department,  two,  weeks 
in  the  belt  room,  two  weeks  on  steam  fitting  and  five 
weeks  in  the  grinding  department. 

The  next  sixteen  months  are  in  a  separate  training 
shop  at  more  advanced  tool  work  on  stock  tools. 
Here  the  apprentices  carry  each  job  through  all  opera- 
tions to  completion.  Work  is  graded  into  six  classes, 
and  an  apprentice  is  advanced  from  class  to  class  as 
rapidly  as  his  ability  warrants.  During  this  stage  of 
his  training  the  apprentice  has  the  very  valuable  ex- 
perience of  one  month  in  the  hardening  room. 

Having  thus  concluded  the  time  assigned  to  sepa- 
rate training  shops,  during  the  final  year  of  appren- 
ticeship the  young  man  is  sent  into  either  the  main 
tool  room  or  die  room  where  he  works  under  the  usual 
shop  foremen. 

In  metal  patternmaking  the  practical  experience 
must  of  course  be  gained  in  the  patternshops.  How- 
ever, for  at  least  one  month  the  apprentice  is  assigned 
to  the  iron  foundry  and  likewise  to  the  brass  foundry. 

For  the  draftsmen  there  is  a  differentiation  into 
machine  and  tool  design,  product  designing  and  power 
and  plant  drafting.  Apprentices  in  machine  and  tool 
design  are_  selected  from  the  tool  and  die  making 


TRADITIONAL  APPRENTICESHIP  MODERNIZED     141 

course  because  of  their  special  talent  for  this  work. 
These  apprentices  and  also  the  apprentices  in  product 
design  receive  special  training  in  patternmaking,  foun- 
dry work,  and  product  assembling.  The  apprentices 
in  the  power  and  plant  drafting  course  receive  train- 
ing in  all  branches  of  the  power  and  plant  maintenance 
department  including  millwrighting,  steam  fitting, 
power  plant  operating,  electrical  construction,  and 
building  layouts. 

Finally  the  one  or  two  apprentices  who  are  working 
up  in  electrical  construction  are  given  a  varied  experi- 
ence in  all  the  power  and  plant  departments  and  in 
each  machine  shop. 

This  varied  basic  training  is  in  all  cases  supple- 
mented by  four  to  five  hours  per  week  of  technical 
instruction  on  the  company's  time.  This  instruc- 
tion is  provided  in  an  amply  equipped  school  room 
under  a  trained  technical  instructor. 

The  following  subjects  are  scheduled  with  subject 
matter  varied  as  much  as  possible  to  suit  the  special 
requirements  of  each  group : 

Mathematics  Machine  and  tool  design 

Mechanical  drawing  Shop  talks 

Mechanics  Electricity 

Business  English  Metallurgy 

Talks  on   subjects  of  Chemistry  of  Iron  and  Steel 

general  interest  Design  of  screw-machine  cams. 

Training  in  the  regular  departments  must,  of  course, 
be  by  the  shop  foremen  of  those  departments  but  in 
the  special  training  departments  it  is  given  by  five 
specially  selected  instructor-foremen. 

Apprentice  pay  is  now  at  the  following  wage  rates: 
19,  20,  22,  24,  27,  30,  33,  and  40  cents  per  hour  for 


142  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

each  of  the  six  months  periods  into  which  the  course 
is  divided,  the  rates  for  the  three-year  courses  rang- 
ing from  22  to  40  cents  per  hour.  At  the  conclusion 
of  the  course  the  usual  $100  bonus  is  paid  and  a  cer- 
tificate of  apprenticeship  is  conferred. 

For  the  training  of  both  women  and  men  as  spe- 
cialists in  the  production  departments  there  has  been 
some  development  of  the  vestibule  school  idea.  This 
is  also  under  the  director  of  training  schools  and  is,  of 
course,  varied  in  length  to  correspond  to  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  particular  operation  to  be  learned  and 
to  the  capacity  of  the  learner  in  acquiring  the  neces- 
sary skill.  During  this  learning  period  a  fixed  mini- 
mum wage  is  paid  until  standard  production  is  reached 
and  the  worker  is  transferred  to  regular  production 
and  the  established  piece  rate  wages. 


CHAPTER  V 

SOME  SMALL  APPRENTICESHIP 
DEPARTMENTS 

THE  four  apprenticeship  departments  here  described 
have  been  studied  in  an  attempt  to  discover  the  form 
which  apprenticeship  may  be  expected  to  take,  if 
conditions  are  such  as  to  warrant  the  employment  of 
only  a  limited  number  of  apprentices. 

Each  employs  the  method  of  transfer  from  one  ma- 
chine to  another  at  regular  production  to  provide  the 
shop  experience.  For  the  supplementary  instruction  the 
Air  Brake  Company  utilizes  the  facilities  provided  by 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association;  the  Weston 
Company  has  a  public  school  teacher  provide  the  de- 
sired shop  arithmetic  and  drawing  on  Saturday  morn- 
ings. The  other  two  companies  have  their  own  school 
instructors,  who  also  act  as  supervisors.  Provided  a 
man  with  satisfactory  qualifications  can  be  secured, 
this  would  seem  the  preferable  plan.  The  De  la 
Vergne  Company  accomplishes  this  by  utilizing  for 
this  instruction  a  young  engineer  who  also  acts  as 
assistant  production  manager. 

No.  19 
THE  WESTINGHOUSE  AIR  BRAKE  Co.,  WILMERDING,  PA. 

In  the  plant  of  the  Westiiighouse  Air  Brake  Com- 
pany, employing  a  tojaf  of  about  4,500,  there  is  a 

143 


144  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

small  but,  judging  by  results,  highly  efficient  appren- 
ticeship department  with  an  enrollment  of  30  young 
men  distributed  among  the  three  usual  trades  as 
follows: 

Machinists 26 

Patternmakers '.......... 2 

Moulders 2 

This  provides  a  reasonable  ratio  of  nearly  one  in 
five  to  the  150  toolmakers  employed,  but  is  only  at 
the  ratio  of  one  in  twenty-five  to  the  50  pattern- 
makers in  the  works,  a  ratio  which  must  be  recog- 
nized as  too  low,  since  at  least  one  apprentice  to  eight 
journeymen  are  quite  evidently  necessary  to  provide 
for  replacements.  As  regards  moulders,  here  as  in 
general,  it  has  been  found  impossible  to  persuade  suffi- 
cient apprentices  to  learn  the  trade  in  order  to  even 
provide  for  foreman  replacements. 

The  general  provisions  for  apprenticeship  are  under 
the  direction  of  the  Supervisor,  who  devotes  all  his 
time  to  this  work.  He  is  considered  one  of  the  best 
mechanics  in  the  plant  and  is  apprentice  trained. 
Much  of  the  credit  for  the  satisfactory  showing  of  the 
department  should  be  given  to  him.  The  following 
quotations  from  his  program  show  the  general  plan 
followed : 

"  The  machinists  and  patternmaking  apprentices  are  indentured 
for  a  period  of  four  years,  10,000  hours.  The  moulders'  appren- 
tices are  indentured  for  three  years,  7,200  hours.  There  is  another 
class  of  special  apprentices  who  are  graduates  of  approved  tech- 
nical schools,  and  whose  apprenticeship  covers  a  period  of  two 
years  (but  none  are  at  present  enrolled  on  this  latter  basis). 

"The  first  class,  or  regularly  indentured  apprentices,  are  required 
to  be  at  least  sixteen  years  of  age,  of  good  reputation,  and  phys- 
ically suited  to  follow  the  trade.  All  applicants  are  requested  to 


SOME  SMALL  APPRENTICESHIP  DEPARTMENTS     145. 

present  themselves  for  personal  interview.  If  his  general  appear- 
ance is  favorable  and  he  appears  to  have  an  aptitude  for  mechanical 
work,  he  is  required  to  take  an  examination  in  Arithmetic,  Spelling 
and  Writing,  and  must  have  a  mark  of  at  least  seventy  per  cent 
efficiency  in  each  study.  Accuracy  is  one  of  the  essential  require- 
ments in  these  examinations.  For  instance,  if  the  applicant  solves 
a  problem,  the  solution  must  be  correct  in  both  principle  and  result 
to  receive  credit.  In  other  words,  if  an  error  in  multiplication  is 
made,  the  applicant  receives  no  credit  whatever  for  the  solution,  of 
that  particular  problem.  In  addition  to  these  examinations  in- 
quiry is  made  of  the  Principal  of  the  school  from  which  the  candidate 
comes  as  to  his  efficiency  and  general  behavior,  also  as  to  how  the 
candidate  spends  his  evenings. 

"If  successful  in  the  above  examinations,  he  is  asked  to  fill  out 
an  application  blank  which  afterwards  must  be  signed  either  by 
the  parent  or  the  guardian.  If  the  application  is  accepted,  he  is 
indentured  for  class  work  after  which  arrangements  are  made  for 
him  to  commence  work.  The  indentured  forms  are  made  out  in 
duplicate,  one  copy  for  the  parent  or  guardian  of  the  apprentice, 
and  the  other  for  the  record  and  file  of  the  Westinghouse  Air  Brake 
Company.  As  stated  in  the  indenture,  the  first  three  months  of 
service  are  considered  as  a  probationary  period,  the  continuation 
of  the  apprenticeship  depending  upon  the  progress  of  the  appren- 
tice in  shop  and  school. 

"The  wages  are  based  upon  an  hourly  rate  which  is  as  follows: 

"Machinists'  and  Patternmakers'  Rate.  The  first  six  months,  14ff 
per  hour;  the  second  six  months,  17 'i  per  hour;  the  third  six  months,, 
19^  per  hour;  the  fourth  six  months,  22£  per  hour;  the  fifth  six  months 
25£  per  hour;  the  sixth  six  months,  28^  per  hour;  the  seventh  six 
months,  35^  per  hour;  the  eighth  six  months,  42£  per  hour.  In 
addition  to  these  wages  the  apprentice  receives  bonuses  as  follows: 
provided  his  shop  and  class  work  records  are  seventy  per  cent  or  above : 
First  year,  $25.00;  second  year,  $40.00;  third  year,  $75.00;  fourth 
year,  $100.00;  or  a  total  of  $240.00  in  bonuses  for  the  four  years. 

Moulders'  Rate.  The  first  year,  22^  per  hour;  the  second  year,  31j£ 
per  hour;  the  third  year,  39£  per  hour.  In  addition  to  these  wages 
the  apprentice  receives  bonuses  as  follows,  provided  his  shop  and 
class  work  records  are  seventy  per  cent  or  above:  First  year,  $50.00; 
second  year,  $100.00;  third  year,  $150.00;  or  a  total  of  $300.00  in 
bonuses  for  the  three  years. 


146  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

"Reports  showing  the  number  of  hours  worked  and  the  class  of 
work  performed,  also  showing  the  shop  progress  of  the  apprentices 
(signed  by  the  Department  Foreman,  afterwards  signed  by  the 
apprentices  themselves),  are  made  out  on  a  special  form  and  for- 
warded the  first  of  the  following  month  to  the  General  Superintend- 
ent for  approval,  after  which  they  are  entered  upon  the  office  records. 
This  arrangement  requires  the  apprentice  to  sign  his  own  record 
and  no  records  are  made  concerning  any  apprentice  which  are  not 
read  and  signed  by  the  apprentice.  Every  month  a  statement  is 
forwarded  to  the  parent  or  guardian  of  the  apprentice  showing  the 
averages  attained  by  the  young  man  in  his  studies  at  the  appren- 
tice school,  which  is  conducted  by  the  Educational  Director  of  the 
Wilmerding  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  assisted  by  an 
engineer  from  the  Engineering  Department  of  the  Westinghouse 
Air  Brake  Company;  also  at  the  end  of  each  quarter  a  report  is 
mailed  showing  the  school  average  for  the  three  months  and  also 
the  progress  of  the  apprentice  in  the  shop. 

"In  the  shop  the  apprentices  are  under  the  care  of  the  Supervisor 
of  Apprentices,  also  under  the  foreman  of  the  Department  in  which 
the  young  man  may  be  working,  but  the  Supervisor  of  Apprentices 
has  general  charge  of  all  the  apprentices  and  if  they  have  difficul- 
ties to  overcome  they  feel  free  to  go  to  him  for  help  and  instruction. 
Thus  there  is  someone  in  charge  of  the  apprentices  to  see  that  they 
receive  the  proper  kind  of  shop  training  which  finally  results  in  effi- 
cient workmen. 

"The  machinists'  apprentice  work  in  the  shop  is  apportioned 
approximately  as  follows:  drill  press,  two  months;  lathe,  nine 
months;  shaper,  one  month;  planer,  two  months;  bench,  twelve 
months;  boring  mill,  three  months;  milling  machine,  nine  months; 
drawing  room,  six  months;  and  test  department,  four  months. 
Total  number  of  hours  for  four  years,  10,000. 

"The  patternmakers'  apprentice  work  is  apportioned  as  follows: 
Sand  papering,  varnishing  and  plain  turning,  six  months;  plain 
bench  work,  six  months;  mechanical  drawing  (Engineering  Office), 
six  months;  helping  moulder  and  coremaking  (Iron  Foundry),  six 
months;  pattern  shop,  advanced  work,  twenty-four  months.  Total 
number  of  hours  for  four  years,  10,000. 

''The  moulder's  apprentice  work  in  the  Foundry  is  apportioned 
as  follows:  Core  making  (Iron  Foundry),  1200  hours;  cupola, 


SOME  SMALL   APPRENTICESHIP  DEPARTMENTS      147 


200  hours;  bench  moulding,  700  hours;  general  moulding,  4,900 
hours;  general  moulding  (Brass  Foundry)  800  hours.  Total 
number  of  hours  for  the  three  years,  7,200. 

"The  Westinghouse  Air  Brake  Company,  recognizing  the  im- 
portance of  the  apprentice  advancing  as  far  as  possible  in  his  school 
work,  instituted  a  day  school  educational  department,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  apprentice  system  which  has  been  in  force  since 
September,  1906,  with  very  satisfactory  results.  The  school  work 
is  conducted,  as  before  stated,  in  the  Wilmerding  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  and  amounts  to  approximately  eight  hours 
per  week  for  each  apprentice  running  nine  months  of  each  year  of 
the  four  years,  September  to  July.  The  regular  shop  hourly  rate  is 
allowed  while  attending  school." 

The  amount  of  class  work  is  shown  by  the  following 
schedule  in  which  the  figures  represent  the  number  of 
hours  in  recitation  per  week : 


Monday 

Wednesday 

Friday 

First  Year 

Algebra  (1) 
Arithmetic  (1) 
Spelling  (1) 

Algebra  (1) 
Arithmetic  (1) 
English  (1) 

Mechanical 
Drawing  (4) 

Second  Year 

Algebra  (1) 
Physics  (1) 
Spelling  (1) 

Algebra  (1) 
English  (1) 
Shop  Math.  (1) 

Mechanical 
Drawing  (3) 
Slide  Rule  (1) 

Third  Year 

Tuesday 

Thursday 

Friday 

Geometry  (1) 
Physics  (1) 

Shop  Math.  (1) 
Physics  (1) 
Geometry  (1) 

Mechanical 
Design  (1) 
Slide  Rule  (1) 
Shop  Math.  (1) 

Fourth  Year 

Geometry  (1) 
Electricity  (1) 
Trigonometry  (1) 

Business 
English  (1) 
Trigonometry  (1) 

Geometry  (1) 
Mechanical 
Design  (3) 

148  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

One  interesting  feature  in  connection  with  the  class 
work  is  that  these  classes  are  conducted  the  first 
hours  in  the  morning,  so  that  the  apprentice  who  has 
class  work  will  come  into  the  class  before  he  goes  into 
the  shop  for  the  day,  a  feature  which  should  result  in 
better  recitations.  Also  it  will  be  seen  that  the  ap- 
prentice is  allowed  three  mornings  a  week  for  this 
school  work. 

"Upon  satisfactorily  completing  the  terms  of  the  indenture,  the 
apprentice  is  given  a  diploma  properly  filled  out  signed  by  the 
officers  of  the  Westinghouse  Air  Brake  Company  designated  and 
the  company  seal  attached  to  the  diploma." 

The  quality  of  the  instruction  in  the  shop  and  school 
is  best  shown  by  the  product.  This  may  be  gauged 
from  a  tabulation  by  the  Supervisor  of  the  exact 
location  of  each  graduating  apprentice  under  date  of 
February  6,  1919,  which  includes  all  of  the  74  gradu- 
ates with  the  exception  only  of  four  whose  location 
could  not  be  discovered.  The  writer  has  summarized 
this  record  as  follows : 

Number  completing  each  course 

Machinists 61 

Patternmakers 7 

Moulders 1 

Special  course  in  Mechanics 5 

Total 74 

Present  employment  of  these  graduates 

Administrative 14 

General  Manager 1 

General  Superintendent 1 

Assistant  General  Managers 2 

Manager 1 

Superintendents  Tool  Design 2 

Foremen 6 

Assistant  Foreman . .  1 


SOME  SMALL  APPRENTICESHIP  DEPARTMENTS      149 

Technical 18 

Layout  Engineer 1 

Efficiency  Engineer 2 

Mech.  Engineers  and  Tool  Designers 3 

Instructors  Manual  Training 2 

Steel  Inspectors 2 

Physical  Laboratory 3 

Draftsmen 3 

Machinery  Salesman 1 

Clerk,  Cost  Department 1 

Skilled  Trades 34 

Machinists 18 

Toolmaker 6 

Patternmakers 6 

Diemaker 3 

Installer  and  Demonstrator 1 

Miscellaneous 2 

Physician 1 

Farmer 1 

Deceased 2 

Whereabouts  unknown 4 

Total 74 

Another  matter  of  interest  brought  out  by  this 
compilation  of  the  present  location  of  graduates  is  the 
proportion  who  have  remained  with  the  company. 
Of  the  72  living  graduates,  the  record  shows  that 
29,  or  40  per  cent,  are  still  in  this  same  plant.  This 
seems  somewhat  better  than  the  condition  in  some 
plants  and  probably  all  that  should  be  desired,  as  it 
is  frequently  to  the  apprentice's  interest  in  acquiring 
a  varied  experience  to  take,  upon  completing  appren- 
ticeship, employment  in  several  and  diverse  plants. 

Analyzing  the  summary  of  present  employment, 
we  see  that  14,  or  20  per  cent,  are  now  holding  execu- 


150  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

tive  or  foreman's  positions  and  that  13,  or  about  the 
same  percentage,  technical  positions;  showing  that, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  all  these  apprentice  graduates 
are  still  young  men  having  in  every  case  completed 
their  apprenticeship  since  1906,  a  very  creditable 
number  have  found  apprenticeship  the  first  round  of 
the  ladder  of  industrial  advancement.  This  may  be 
accounted  for  in  part  by  the  careful  selection  of 
superior  boys  who  would  have  gone  ahead  anyway; 
but,  no  doubt,  in  part  by  the  greater  amount  of  sup- 
plementary school  training  than  is  provided  in  many 
apprentice  schools.  It  is  believed,  however,  that 
much  credit  should  be  laid  to  the  fact  that  good  ap- 
prenticeship during  the  sixteen-to-twenty  age-period 
provides  the  discipline  and  industrial  intelligence 
that,  for  the  purpose,  cannot  well  be  acquired  by  other 
means.  Of  the  remainder,  practically  all  are  at 
skilled  trades  and  many  of  these  with  maturity  will 
doubtless  advance  to  positions  of  responsibility,  but 
even  though  they  do  not,  are  in  highly  useful  and 
productive  employment. 

No.  20 
WESTON  ELECTRIC  INSTRUMENT  Co.,  NEWARK,  N.  J. 

The  Weston  Electric  Instrument  Company  make 
high  grade  electrical  measuring  instruments.  About 
900  are  ordinarily  employed,  of  whom  60  per  cent 
are  men.  Of  these,  a  considerable  number  are  in- 
strument makers  and  at  present  55  first  grade  tool- 
makers.  Apprenticeship  of  a  rather  informal  type 
is  provided  in  the  latter  trade,  in  which  there  are  at 
present  15  enrolled. 


SOME  SMALL  APPRENTICESHIP  DEPARTMENTS     151 

The  number  taken  on  varies  with  business  condi- 
tions, but  there  is  said  always  to  be  a  waiting  list. 
Entrance  is  at  ages  sixteen  to  eighteen,  though  they 
prefer  that  the  boy  begin  directly  upon  leaving  school. 
Good  references  are  required  and  at  least  graduation 
from  elementary  school,  though  many  have  had  one 
or  more  years  of  high  school,  which  is  considered  de- 
sirable. No  preference  or  advanced  standing  is  given 
to  graduates  of  the  vocational  school. 

The  third  year  may  be  spent  in  the  drafting  room, 
if  the  apprentice  desires,  but  most,  however,  do  not 
so  elect.  The  remainder  of  the  time  is  given  to  in- 
struction under  production  conditions  on  machine 
and  tool  work  in  the  tool  department.  Supplementary 
instruction  is  provided  by  a  three-hour  class  in  the 
shop  on  Saturday  mornings  in  drafting  and  shop 
arithmetic.  This  is  provided  by  a  teacher  from  the 
city  public  school  system. 

The  wages  begin  at  17  cents  an  hour,  or  $8.16  per 
week  of  forty-eight  hours,  and  are  scheduled  by  grad- 
uated increases  every  six  months  to  advance  to  45 
cents  an  hour,  or  $21.60  per  week,  though  as  high  as 
65  cents  an  hour  is  being  paid  during  the  fourth  year. 
A  $100  bonus  is  also  paid  upon  satisfactory  comple- 
tion of  the  course. 

While  no  indenture  is  required,  yet  it  is  believed, 
upon  observation  of  the  large  amount  of  individual 
supervision  with  the  strong  tradition  favorable  to 
apprenticeship  founded  in  the  fact  that  most  of  the 
foremen  and  administrative  force  are  apprentice 
trained,  that  apprenticeship  in  this  shop  is  producing 
good  toolmakers. 


152  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

No.  21 
DE  LA  VERGNE  MACHINE  Co.,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

The  De  la  Vergne  Machine  Company  offers  an  ex- 
cellent opportunity  to  study  apprenticeship  applied 
in  a  plant  somewhere  near  the  lower  limit  of  practi- 
cability as  regards  the  number  of  employees.  About 
200  first  class  machinists  are  employed  with  40  ap- 
prentices in  this  trade.  This  includes  25  toolmakers 
in  which  special  branch  there  is  only  1  apprentice. 
Also,  corresponding  to  their  20  patternmakers,  are 
3  apprentices.  It  is  thus  seen  that  a  standard  ratio 
of  one  in  five  apprentices  to  journeymen  is  maintained 
in  the  machinists'  trade  and  of  nearly  one  in  eight 
among  the  patternmakers.  The  products  of  the 
factory  are  oil  engines  and  ice  machines,  the  manu- 
facture of  which  offers  ample  variety  of  experience 
at  the  standard  machines  on  the  test  floor  and  in 
assembling.  This,  no  doubt,  accounts  for  the  fact 
that  a  system  of  apprenticeship  has  been  maintained 
since  the  inception  of  the  company  in  1868. 

The  apprentices  are  under  the  general  supervision 
of  the  assistant  production  manager,  who  is  a  young 
mechanical  engineer  and  seemingly  well  fitted  to 
handle  the  school  which  is  provided  to  supplement  the 
practical  work.  For  the  latter  the  apprentices  are 
grouped  under  selected  gang-bosses  in  the  ratio  of 
about  one  to  six  apprentices.  A  schedule  card  is 
kept  of  each  apprentice,  assignments  being  approxi- 
mately as  follows:  As  tool  boy,  25  to  30  weeks;  at 
cold  saw,  not  more  than  10  weeks,  but  eliminated 
altogether  for  most  boys;  progress  through  different 


SOME  SMALL  APPRENTICESHIP  DEPARTMENTS     153 

engine  lathes,  40  weeks;  Gisholt  turret  lathe,  20 
weeks;  drill  press,  20  weeks;  milling  machine,  handy, 
4  weeks;  all  sorts  (including  universal)  at  least  20 
weeks;  shaper  or  planer,  10  weeks;  bench  work  and 
assembly,  10  weeks,  but  if  the  apprentice  shows  an 
aptitude  and  inclination  to  become  a  mechanical 
engineer,  25  weeks;  boring  mill,  10  weeks;  test  floor, 
if  machinist,  15  weeks,  but  if  specializing  on  gas 
engines,  30  weeks;  at  forge  and  steam  hammer,  5 
weeks;  and  in  the  foundry,  3  weeks.  Regular  peri- 
odical ratings  are  made  of  progress  as  regards  work- 
manship, deportment,  and  in  the  class  work  in  mathe- 
matics and  drawing. 

For  this  class  work  the  apprentices  are  divided  into 
two  groups  of  about  twenty  each  with  regular  assign- 
ments in  the  excellent  texts  at  present  available,  in 
shop  mathematics  for  two  hours  a  week  and  in  draw- 
ing for  a  second  two-hour  session.  As  there  is  con- 
siderable variation  in  the  advancement  of  the  appren- 
tices, the  instruction  of  the  advanced  students  is 
largely  individual,  though  the  four  hours  of  school 
are  required  of  them  the  same  as  for  beginners. 

Compensation  reflects  the  improved  rates  of  pay 
of  machinists.  As  recently  as  1912  the  apprentice 
started  at  eight  cents  an  hour  with  two-cent  increases 
every  six  months  to  a  maximum  rate  of  22  cents. 
The  rate  now  starts  at  22  cents  with  an  increase  of 
2  cents  every  three  months,  reaching  a  maximum  of 
52  cents  in  the  last  period  of  the  fourth  year.  Upon 
graduation,  a  certificate  is  conferred  and  a  bonus  of 
$200  is  paid  while  full  advancement  is  made  to  first 
class  journeyman's  rating. 

Another  phase  of  employee  instruction  provided  in 


154  EMPLOYEE   TRAINING 

this  plant  has  been  voluntary  trade  extension  classes, 
after-work  for  the  adult  workers,  which  are  not  in 
operation  at  the  present  time,  owing  to  lack  of  avail- 
able space  for  holding  them,  but  which  are  to  be  re- 
sumed in  the  early  fall. 

The  method  of  administration  is  worth  noting,  as 
it  seems  to  have  met  with  general  satisfaction.  This 
consists  in  placing  the  responsibility  for  the  conduct 
of  the  apprentice  system  in  the  hands  of  a  committee 
of  three  members,  made  up  of  the  Works  Manager, 
the  Supervisor,  who  is  Assistant  Production  Manager, 
and  a  Journeyman  Machinist  in  the  company's  em- 
ploy and  in  whose  choice  the  apprentices  were  con- 
sulted. This  committee  passes  upon  the  appren- 
tices at  the  conclusion  of  the  trial  period  and  signs 
the  agreement  then  entered  into,  as  well  as  the  boy, 
his  parent,  or  guardian,  and  the  General  Manager  as 
representative  for  the  company.  It  also  may  recom- 
mend changes  in  the  procedure  of  apprenticeship  and, 
in  general,  provide  a  clearing  house  for  the  discussion 
and  initiation  of  any  new  features  in  the  program. 

The  esprit  de  corps  of  the  apprentice  department  is 
also  promoted  by  encouraging  athletics.  Each  sea- 
son the  boys  have  their  baseball,  football,  and  basket- 
ball teams,  in  which  the  usual  amount  of  interest  is 
taken  by  the  management. 

The  general  impression  gained  of  the  opportunity 
offered  by  the  plant  for  apprenticeship  is  that  the 
boy's  interests  are  being  considered,  and  that  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  company  apprenticeship  is 
abundantly  justified  in  spite  of  the  relatively  small 
numbers  who  can  be  provided  for. 


SOME  SMALL  APPRENTICESHIP  DEPARTMENTS     155 

No.  21 

HYATT  ROLLER  BEARINGS  DIVISION,  GENERAL  MOTORS 
CORPORATION,  HARRISON,  N.  J. 

The  Hyatt  Bearings  Plant,  employing  approxi- 
mately 4,500  men  and  women,  has  an  Apprentice 
Department  in  which  38  boys  are  enrolled.  A  super- 
visor devotes  his  whole  time  to  their  instruction.  The 
policy  of  the  plant  as  regards  apprenticeship  is  laid 
out  by  a  committee  of  foremen  and  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  mechanical  division. 

A  schedule  of  transfers  has  been  drawn  up  as  fol- 
lows: Miscellaneous,  two  months;  Drill  Press,  one 
month;  Lathes,  ten  and  one-half  months;  Shaper 
and  Planer,  three  months;  Milling  machine,  ten  and 
one-half  months;  Automatics,  one  month;  Bench 
Work,  nine  months;  Tool  Grinding,  two  months; 
Surface,  External,  Internal,  and  Universal  Grinding, 
one  month  each;  Gauge  Making,  three  months;  and 
Drafting  Department,  two  months. 

Supplementary  instruction  for  two  hours  per  week 
during  work  hours  is  provided,  the  time  being  chiefly 
devoted  to  reciting  and  receiving  assignments  on 
Shop  Arithmetic  and  Drafting,  the  preparation  of 
which  must  be  done  outside  of  the  class. 

Rates  of  pay  begin  at  15  cents  an  hour  with  in- 
creases every  three  months  until  40  cents  an  hour  is 
reached  in  the  last  six  months  of  the  fourth  year. 
Upon  completion  of  apprenticeship,  a  bonus  of  $150 
is  paid  and  a  set  of  tools  and  the  Machinist's  Hand- 
book is  presented  to  the  graduate.  Also  the  $25 
deposit  required  upon  signing  the  agreement  is  re- 
turned. 


156  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

To  insure  that  the  schedule  of  training  laid  out 
above  is  substantially  carried  out,  a  monthly  report 
card  is  filled  out  and  signed  by  the  foreman  under 
whom  the  apprentice  is  employed,  after  which  it  is 
tabulated  and  filed  by  the  supervisor.  The  quarterly 
report  is  made  out  every  three  months  and  sent  to 
the  boy's  parent.  Upon  this  record  "  Excellent " 
was  said  to  correspond  to  100  per  cent,  "  Good  "  to 
75  per  cent,  "  Fair  "  to  50  per  cent,  and  "  Poor  "  to 
25  per  cent. 

One  means  used  in  this  plant  for  creating  an  esprit 
de  corps  among  the  apprentices  is  the  provision  of  a 
button  which  is  worn  by  all  apprentices  and  graduates. 
Another  is  to  organize  the  graduates  as  an  Appren- 
ticeship Committee  which  votes  on  all  matters  per- 
taining to  the  course.  These  graduates  exercise  this 
function  until  replaced  by  other  graduates.  Athletic 
teams  are  also  formed  among  the  apprentices,  which 
are  managed  by  officers  elected  by  the  student  body. 
Also,  there  is  a  provision  of  two  visiting  days  each 
year,  when  student's  parents  and  relatives  are  in- 
vited to  visit  the  plant  and  see  the  students  at  their 
work  and  in  classroom. 


CHAPTER  VI 
APPRENTICESHIP  IN  SHIPBUILDING 

THE  apprentice  program  of  the  Fore  River  Ship- 
yard and  of  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  are  alike  in 
their  thoroughgoing  acceptance  of  the  principle  of 
apprenticeship.  They  both  extend  the  policy  to  all 
trades  or  crafts  employed  in  the  respective  plants. 
In  the  case  of  the  Fore  River  plant  there  is  an  attempt 
at  the  closest  correlation  of  shop  and  school  instruc- 
tion extending,  where  possible,  to  the  utilization  in 
both  the  school  and  shop  of  the  same  instructor.  In 
the  Navy  Yard,  on  the  other  hand,  the  two  are  wholly 
distinct  with  no  encouragement  even  for  co-operation. 
The  school  instruction  is  provided  by  the  public 
school  system  and  need  have  no  relation  to  the  work 
progressing  in  the  shop. 

An  intermediate  plan  would  seem  desirable,  with 
the  problems  of  school  instruction  based  on  the  actual 
job  experience  of  the  craft  involved.  There  are,  how- 
ever, serious  difficulties  of  administration  encountered, 
if  we  attempt  to  utilize  these  shop  instructors  for  the 
school  instruction.  One  difficulty  is  that  a  good  shop 
instructor  does  not  necessarily  have  the  requisite 
academic  training  to  handle  the  book  instruction.  It 
may  be  desirable,  for  example,  to  teach  some  drawing 
and  the  shop  instructor  may  have  only  an  indifferent 

157 


158  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

grasp  of  blue  print  reading.  He  may  be  able  to 
handle  the  arithmetic  actually  utilized  in  his  trade, 
but  be  unable  to  teach  the  elementary  trigonometry 
and  the  algebra  and  geometry  requisite  to  satisfac- 
torily teach  the  angle  functions.  In  short,  for  the 
school  instructor  some  technical  training  coupled  with 
shop  experience  and  teacher  training  seems  desirable, 
which  can  best  be  provided  by  school  instructors 
ordinarily  technically  trained  provided  for  that  pur- 
pose. This  may,  however,  be  to  a  large  degree  ob- 
tained by  the  careful  selection  of  the  shop  instruct- 
ors and  their  training  for  the  purpose,  as  is  the  plan 
of  the  Fore  River  Ship  Yard. 

The  two  programs  should  be  contrasted  with  study 
No.  27  of  the  Submarine  Boat  Corporation,  where 
intensive  training  rather  than  apprenticeship  is  wholly 
employed.  In  the  latter  case  the  work  has  been  re- 
duced to  the  standardized  product  and  the  specific 
operations  required  of  the  various  specialists  em- 
ployed can  be  taught  in  a  relatively  short  time. 

No.  23 

BETHLEHEM  SHIPBUILDING  CORPORATION,  FORE  RIVER 
PLANT,  QUINCY,  MASS. 

The  Fore  River  Shipyard  is  probably  the  first  plant 
engaged  in  shipbuilding  in  America  to  introduce  ap- 
prenticeship for  training  its  craftsmen  when  they 
enter  the  trades  required  in  the  shipbuilding  industry. 
This  has  been  their  established  policy  since  1900,  but 
since  the  conclusion  of  the  Great  War  their  well  or- 
ganized department  of  apprenticeship  has  been  under 
the  process  of  being  enlarged  and  improved. 


APPRENTICESHIP  IN  SHIPBUILDING  159 

The  outstanding  characteristic  of  this  newer  appren- 
ticeship program  is  the  provision  of  special  instruc- 
torial  training  for  the  sub-foremen  under  whom  the 
apprentices  are  employed  for  their  practical  work  who 
are  also  to  provide  the  supplementary  school  instruc- 
tion. To  bring  this  about,  sub-foremen  who  were 
considered  most  adaptable  to  the  job  of  apprentice 
training  were  selected  from  the  various  crafts  re- 
quired in  the  yards  and  put  through  a  rigorous  course 
of  instruction  for  the  additional  job  of  teaching  their 
respective  trades.  For  this  purpose  the  supervisor 
of  apprentices  got  them  together  two  nights  a  week 
after  the  day's  work  for  about  six  weeks  and  from 
four  until  nine  o'clock  they  studied  the  problems  of 
trade  teaching.  With  the  help  of  the  supervisor, 
each  went  through  his  trade  and  drew  up  an  analysis 
of  all  the  operations  involved,  and  linked  up  with 
each  one  the  technical  problems  which  were  to  be 
taught  in  the  supplementary  or  apprentice  school.  At 
the  same  time  these  instructor-foremen  were  instructed 
in  effective  methods  of  teaching. 

They  were  then  ready  to  take  over  their  classes, 
which  are  found  in  the  following  fourteen  trades: 

1.  Blacksmiths 6  8.  Inside  Machinists 70 

2.  Coppersmiths 22  9.  Boilermakers 0 

3.  Electricians 12  10.  Outside  Machinists 18 

4.  Shipwrights 4  11.  Shipfitters 18 

5.  Joiners 11  12.  Mold-loftsmen 32 

6.  Patternmakers 14  13.  Layer-outs 12 

7. 'Sheet  Metal  Workers..  8  14.  Draftsmen ..  16 


Total..  .  243 


The  figures  after  each  trade  or  craft  mentioned 
represent  the  number  of  apprentices   enrolled.     It 


160  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

was  stated  that  this  is  at  an  average  ratio  of  17 J  per 
cent  of  apprentices  to  first-class  mechanics. 

One-half  day  each  week  the  apprentices  are  to  meet 
with  their  instructors  for  the  supplementary  instruc- 
tion. At  this  time  the  apprentice  files  a  report  in  the 
supervisor's  office  of  the  work  upon  which  he  has  been 
engaged  during  the  week.  This  report  calls  for  en- 
tries as  to  whether  the  apprentice  worked  alone  or 
with  a  mechanic,  independent  work  being  considered 
to  his  credit.  When  the  plan  is  perfected  this  is  to 
be  entered  on  the  individual  cumulative  record  sheet 
of  the  apprentice  which  is  to  show  his  progress  in  cover- 
ing all  the  operations  making  up  the  analysis  of  his 
trade.  As  this  record  is  to  show  the  quality  of  his 
work  as  well  as  the  operations  involved,  the  super- 
visor will  be  able  to  obtain  a  constant  rating  on  his 
progress  in  arriving  at  satisfactory  workmanship. 
This  it  is  planned  to  consider  in  determining  the  length 
of  apprenticeship,  so  that  by  superior  workmanship 
the  apprentice  will  be  able  to  shorten  his  period  of 
service.  The  supplementary  training  is  to  consist  of 
instruction  in  trade  nomenclature,  sketching,  drafting, 
and  the  mathematics  of  the  trade  involved.  These 
classes  are  in  every  case  to  be  small  with  never  more 
than  twelve  to  be  assigned  to  each. 

Apprenticeship  in  this  plant  conforms  to  the  stand- 
ard practice  of  admitting  only  boys  over  sixteen  years 
of  age  and,  while  grammar  school  graduation  is  de- 
sired, the  completion  of  the  sixth  grade  is  required 
with  the  usual  stipulations  of  sound  health,  average 
height,  and  good  moral  character.  There  is  also  a 
plan  under  consideration  to  shorten  the  period  of  ap- 
prenticeship, as  recognition  of  graduation  from  an  ap~ 


APPRENTICESHIP  IN  SHIPBUILDING  161 

proved  high  school  or  for  having  had  previous  experi- 
ence. 

The  pay  was  stated  to  be  at  present  at  the  following 
rates: 

First  year      28jzf  an  hour 
Second  year  34ff       " 
Third  year    4(ty       " 
Fourth  year  46£       ' ' 

There  is,  however,  a  tentative  plan  under  consid- 
eration to  establish  the  pay  of  apprentices  upon  the 
basis  of  a  fractional  ratio  to  that  of  the  corresponding 
journeymen.  Under  this  provision  the  rates  would 
be  determined  upon  the  following  basis: 

First  six  months     35%  of  the  first  class  mechanic's  wages 
Second  six  months  40%      " 
Second  year  45%      " 

Third  year  50%      " 

The  latter  system  of  payment  (with  an  added  item 
to  provide  for  a  fourth  year)  seems  the  more  reason- 
able, as  the  earning  power  of  an  apprentice  at  any 
period  of  his  contract  is  evidently  to  be  determined 
equitably  by  the  amount  paid  to  journeymen  for  per- 
forming the  same  work.  How  much  this  journey- 
man's rate  will  be  carmc>t  be  known  four  years  in  ad- 
vance. Because  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  fixed  rate, 
undoubtedly  many  apprentices  failed  to  complete 
their  periods  of  service  during  the  frequent  wage  in- 
creases of  the  late  war  and  it  is  to  be  expected  that 
there  will  be  many  readjustments  during  the  unset- 
tled labor  conditions  of  the  next  few  years  which  will 
be  required  to  recover  normal  conditions  of  production. 

School  for  Draftsmen. — It  should  be  stated  that 
the  sixteen  drafting  apprentices  mentioned  in  the 
summary  of  apprentices  were  promising  individuals 


162  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

selected  from  the  other  crafts  and  given  a  four  months' 
intensive  training  course  previous  to  their  transfer  to 
another  plant  of  the  corporation.  It  is  now  planned 
to  develop  a  regular  drafting  school  under  the  direction 
of  a  skilled  naval  architect.  The  plan  is  to  make  a 
careful  selection  of  apprentices,  graduates  of  high 
schools  being  preferred,  give  them  at  least  one  year's 
practical  experience  in  the  shipbuilding  crafts  and 
then  two  years  of  naval  drafting  under  intensive  train- 
ing. Mathematics,  mechanics,  strength  of  materials 
and  the  various  phases  of  ship  design  are  to  be  given 
in  classes  held  twice  daily,  one  in  the  forenoon  and  the 
other  in  the  afternoon.  This  is  now  planned  as  an 
emergency  measure  to  meet  the  present  very  serious 
shortage  of  draftsmen  of  all  kinds,  but  which  is  partic- 
ularly acute  in  the  field  of  naval  design  with  the  sudden 
impetus  given  to  shipbuilding  in  the  United  States. 

Later,  when  the  urgency  has  become  less  acute,  it 
is  planned  to  make  the  course  somewhat  more  ex- 
tended and  to  introduce  a  plan  whereby  the  drafting 
students  will  be  formed  into  pairs,  alternating  one 
week  in  the  drafting  room  under  the  course  outlined 
above,  and  the  following  week  at  work  at  the  various 
crafts  about  the  plant,  so  that  the  future  draftsmen 
may  become  conversant  with  all  phases  of  shipbuild- 
ing. This  is  a  highly  interesting  development  of  the  co- 
operative idea  for  training  technical  workers,  in  which 
the  plant's  management  will  supply  both  the  school 
and  the  shop  practice,  and  seems  to  promise  ideal 
conditions  for  learning  this  highly  technical  vocation. 

Comment. — While  the  complete  development  of 
some  phases  of  the  apprentice  training  outlined  awaits 
the  construction  now  in  progress  of  the  building  neces- 


APPRENTICESHIP  IN  SHIPBUILDING  163 

sary  to  satisfactorily  house  the  supplementary  school, 
the  programs  have  been  described  as  fully  as  possible 
when  in  only  partial  operation.  Other  phases  of 
special  training  have  been  projected  and  were  in 
partial  operation  during  the  past  winter.  Among 
these  should  be  mentioned  foreman  training  and  the 
teaching  of  English  with  civic  training  for  the  alien 
employees.  These  also  await  the  completion  of  the 
projected  training  school. 

No.  24 

THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY  YARD  OF  BROOKLYN, 
NEW  YORK  CITY 

In  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  is  provided  an  example 
of  apprenticeship  on  an  extensive  scale  in  which  the 
public  school  authorities  cooperate  by  maintaining 
part-time  instructional  classes.  While  apprentice- 
ship has  been  for  a  considerable  time  the  established 
policy  of  the  navy  yards,  these  Industrial  Continuation 
Classes,  as  they  are  designated  by  the  public  school 
authorities,  were  only  established  in  February,  1917. 
There  are  now  more  than  400  apprentices  in  the  navy 
yard,  all  of  whom  are  required  to  attend  the  classes 
provided. 

They  are  found  in  the  following  seventeen  trades : 

1.  Boatbuilders  10.  Painters 

2.  Boilermakers  11.  Patternmakers 

3.  Coppersmiths  12.  Plumbers 

4.  Chippers  and  Caulkers  13.  Sheet  Metal  Workers 

5.  Die  Sinkers  14.  Shipfitters 

6.  Electricians  15.  Shipsmiths 

7.  Joiners  16.  Shipwrights 

8.  Machinists  17.  Sailmakers 

9.  Moulders 


164  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Trade  practice  is  taught  under  the  direction  of  a 
master  mechanic.  Method  of  teaching,  of  course, 
however,  varies  to  suit  the  conditions  imposed  by  the 
trade.  The  general  practice  is  for  the  apprentice  to 
work  as  helper  to  a  skilled  mechanic  for  about  one 
year,  while  the  remainder  of  his  apprentice  period  he 
is  allowed  to  work  by  himself  under  the  direction  of 
a  leading  man.  Furthermore,  in  each  distinct  trade 
there  is  a  shop  instructor  who  is  a  skilled  mechanic 
with  special  qualifications  for  handling  apprentices. 
His  duty  is  to  see  that  the  apprentice  is  transferred  at 
specified  times  to  different  types  of  work  to  insure  all- 
around  training.  In  addition,  this  shop  instructor 
gives  talks  on  related  shop  knowledge,  so  that  the 
apprentice  should  be  made  familiar  with  all  ma- 
chines, processes,  materials,  and  tools  used  in  the 
trade. 

Apprentices  are  admitted  by  Civil  Service  regula- 
tions with  requirements  which  wisely  vary  for  the 
different  trades.  Thus,  for  the  electrical  trades  candi- 
dates have  usually  finished  one  or  two  years  of  high 
school,  while  in  painting  and  sailmaking  the  com- 
pletion of  only  the  sixth  grade  is  required.  In  1917, 
when  the  classes  were  formed  of  the  214  then  on  the 
registry,  105  or  about  50  per  cent,  were  not  graduates 
of  the  elementary  school;  64,  or  about  30  per  cent, 
had  completed  the  elementary  school  only;  and  45, 
or  about  20  per  cent,  had  attended  high  school  for  a 
time.  Sixty,  or  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  214,  had 
attended  night  school  sixty  nights  or  more. 

Industrial  Continuation  Classes. — In  considering 
the  work  of  the  continuation  classes  provided  by  the 
city  education  authorities,  the  following  note  relative 


APPRENTICESHIP  IN  SHIPBUILDING  165 

to  Trade  Practice  was  inserted  in  the  school  program 
and  it  is  believed  rigidly  adhered  to: 

Trade  practice  is  taught  in  the  shop  by  the  masters, 
quartermen,  and  leading  men.  All  information  and 
questions  relating  to  trade  practice  are  to  be  answered 
by  the  shop  supervisors  and  under  no  conditions  are 
to  be  discussed  in  the  school. 

At  the  start  the  apprentices  were  divided  into  five 
groups  based  on  their  previous  school  attainments: 

Class  A.  Those  with  two  or  more  years  of  high  school. 

B.  Elementary  school  graduates. 

C.  Those  with  seventh  grade  completed. 

D.  Those  with  sixth  grade  completed. 

E.  Those  who  lack  an  elementary  education. 

Eight  hours  per  week  of  instruction  are  provided 
through  three  years  of  forty-eight  weeks  each,  divided 
as  follows:  English,  one  hour;  Mathematics,  two 
hours;  Science,  one  hour;  Drawing,  four  hours.  In 
first  year  classes  science  is  omitted  and  English  is 
given  for  two  hours  a  week. 

The  aim  in  the  English  instruction  was  stated  to  be 
to  teach  the  apprentices  to  express  themselves  intel- 
ligently in  oral  as  well  as  written  composition.  Read- 
ing before  the  class  is  required  and  spelling  is  intro- 
duced "  by  giving  words  in  the  form  of  a  sentence 
which  is  a  bit  of  useful  information  about  the  trade." 
For  the  mathematics  course  the  three  years  of  in- 
struction are  divided  into  six  terms,  each  term  into 
forty-eight  one-hour  periods,  for  which  a  progressive 
course  covering  arithmetic,  algebra,  geometry,  and 
trigonometry  has  been  arranged.  The  mechanical 
drawing  course  of  study  calls  for:  "  drawing  from 
blueprints  and  objects  or  both.  Use  objects  where 
possible." 


166  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

The  course  in  science  is  wholly  formal,  and  while 
the  time  allotment  permits  but  one  hour  per  week 
during  the  second  and  third  years  of  apprenticeship, 
practically  the  same  topics  are  scheduled  as  appear  in 
the  usual  high  school  courses  of  Physics  and  Chemistry. 
Thus,  sound  (inclusive  of  musical  instruments)  is  one 
element  of  the  course.  Another  is  static  electricity. 
The  magnetic  units  (weber,  gauss,  oersted,  and  gilbert) 
are  another  and  under  electricity  the  eight  types  of 
batteries  are  called  for.  The  final  topic  is  Power 
Transmission,  which  for  certain  trades  probably 
offers  the  greatest  utility. 


CHAPTER  VII 

PROGRAMS  IN  RAILROAD  SHOPS  AND 
LOCOMOTIVE  WORKS 

THE  similarity  in  the  apprenticeship  of  the  railroad 
shop  and  of  the  locomotive  works  seemed  to  warrant 
the  presentation  of  the  studies  together.  Of  course, 
however,  a  large  part  of  the  work  in  the  railroad  shops 
is  of  a  maintenance  nature,  while  in  the  locomotive 
works  it  is  largely  upon  production.  This  accounts 
for  the  fact  that  no  patternmaking  or  foundry  appren- 
tices are  employed  on  the  Santa  Fe  system,  while  in 
the  locomotive  works,  27  out  of  the  83  apprentices 
employed,  or  about  one-third,  were  in  the  pattern 
shops  and  foundry. 

The  difference  in  the  number  of  apprentices  in  the 
railroad  shops  and  in  the  locomotive  shops  should 
also  be  recognized.  This  will  be  discussed  at  greater 
length  in  the  chapter  on  Apprentice  Training  in  the 
final  section. 

No.  25 
ATCHISON,  TOPEKA,  &  SANTA  FE  RAILROAD  SYSTEM  * 

The  Atchison,  Topeka,  &  Santa  Fe*  Railroad  system 
offers  the  outstanding  example  of  apprentice  training 

*  Compiled  from  Official  Proceedings  of  the  New  York  Railroad 
Club,  Vol.  XXVI,  No.  9,  and  Western  Railway  Club,  Vol.  29,  No.  7. 

167 


168  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

in  railroad  shops.  The  railroad,  as  is  well  known,  has  a 
system  the  western  portion  of  which  traverses  a  sparsely 
settled  and  almost  uninhabitable  country,  with  no 
nearby  roads,  shops,  or  manufacturing  plants  from 
which  to  draw  mechanics.  Their  lack  in  the  face  of 
rapidly  expanding  business  in  1907  led  the  manage- 
ment to  decide  that,  if  they  could  not  hire  the  machin- 
ists needed,  they  would  train  them.  An  apprentice 
system  was  forthwith  inaugurated  by  the  appointment 
of  a  Supervisor  of  Apprentices.  At  present,  in  their 
thirty-six  railroad  shops  scattered  from  Chicago  to 
San  Francisco,  are  being  trained  over  1,300  apprentices 
in  the  following  trades:  Machinists,  795;  Boiler- 
makers, 175;  Sheet  Metal  Workers,  79;  Car  Carpen- 
ters, 234;  Electricians,  12;  Blacksmiths,  22;  Paint- 
ers, 13. 

Shop  Instructors. — Under  the  direction  of  the  gen- 
eral supervisor  of  the  whole  apprentice  system,  in 
each  center  is  found  one  or  more  Shop  Instructors  at 
the  approximate  ratio  of  one  instructor  to  twenty-five 
apprentices.  These  have  general  charge  of  the 
apprentices  while  at  work,  both  instructing  them  and 
arranging  their  transfers  from  one  type  of  work  to 
another.  It  should  be  stated  that  in  no  case  is  the 
training  and  transfer  of  apprentices  left  to  the  shop 
foreman.  It  is  believed  that  this  system  of  shop  in- 
structors is  a  noteworthy  feature  of  this  railroad's 
apprentice  program.  "  He  is  selected  from  the  ranks, 
a  man  of  character,  skilled  in  his  trade,  patient  in  his 
teaching  and  capable  of  imparting  his  knowledge  in- 
telligently to  the  boys  in  his  charge."  By  the  plan  in 
force  the  shop  instructor  ranks  along  with  the  depart- 
ment foreman  and  both  report  to  the  same  shop  officer. 


RAILROAD  SHOPS  AND   LOCOMOTIVE  WORKS     169 

If  the  foreman  is  temporarily  absent,  the  instructor 
takes  his  place. 

If  the  shop  is  large  enough  to  afford  ample  facilities, 
a  fixed  schedule  is  outlined  for  each  apprentice  to 
pursue.  This  is  so  arranged  that  he  may  complete 
the  course  in  three  years,  six  months,  leaving  six 
months  for  review  or  specializing. 

Apprentice  School. — In  the  midst  of  the  shops,  pref- 
erably in  a  separate  building,  there  is  fitted  up  a 
schoolroom  for  the  supplementary  instruction.  The 
apprentices  here  assemble  in  classes  at  stated  hours 
for  instruction  in  mechanical  and  freehand  drawing, 
practical  shop  arithmetic,  mechanics,  some  descrip- 
tive geometry,  algebra,  etc.  A  treatise  on  the  respect- 
ive trade  being  taught,  the  materials  used,  and  a  little 
railroad  business  letter  writing  also  form  elements  of 
the  course.  By  a  generous  equipment  of  charts, 
working  models,  and  reading  matter,  different  aux- 
iliary devices  are  studied — injectors,  lubricators, 
safety  valves,  and  air  brakes.  The  apprentice  is  also 
required  to  learn  company  and  Federal  rules  pertain- 
ing to  his  trade.  Everything  used  by  the  apprentice 
in  this  room  is  provided  without  cost  to  him. 

As  this  school  is  intended  to  be  a  center  for  the 
whole  shop  where  foremen,  mechanics,  officers,  and 
clerks  can  and  do  obtain  information  and  help  upon 
any  mechanical  device  or  question,  the  school  in- 
structor must  necessarily  possess  a  good  technical 
training  in  addition  to  an  extended  railroad  and  prac- 
tical experience. 

Selection  of  Apprentices. — Apprentices  are  selected 
in  the  order  in  which  their  applications  are  filed. 
Each  applies  to  the  local  Master  Mechanic  or  Shop 


170  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Superintendent,  who  turns  him  over  to  the  appren- 
tice instructor  for  an  examination.  Educational 
qualifications  of  an  applicant  are  not  iron  clad,  as 
some  of  the  applicants  have  had  but  limited  oppor- 
tunity and  yet  are  considered  good  material,  provided 
they  are  industrious,  ambitious,  and  of  good  habits. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  plenty  of  opportunity  has  been 
available  for  schooling,  the  examination  is  rigid.  In 
age  the  sixteen-year-old  applicant  seems  to  get  the 
preference,  except  in  California,  where  a  minimum  age 
of  eighteen  is  fixed  by  law.  In  freight  car  work  the 
minimum  is,  however,  nineteen;  but  the  course  is 
only  two  and  one-half  years  in  length  instead  of  the 
four  years  required  in  other  trades.  The  average 
schooling  for  the  machinist,  boilermaker,  and  black- 
smith is  about  eight  and  one-half  to  nine  years  and  in 
some  places  a  little  better,  while  the  freight  car  car- 
penters average  in  preparation  between  the  sixth  and 
seventh  grades  and  have  probably  been  out  of  school 
since  they  were  fourteen. 

Apprentice  Board. — The  successful  fitting  of  ap- 
prenticeship into  the  production  and  maintenance 
work  of  the  shop  without  friction  is  ascribed  to  the 
Apprentice  Board.  This  is  composed  of  the  Gen- 
eral Foreman,  department  and  gang  foremen,  the  shop 
instructors,  and  the  school  instructor.  Every  ap- 
prentice, either  in  person  or  by  name,  is  brought 
before  this  board  every  six  nionths  during  his  entire 
apprenticeship.  All  matters  in  reference  to  the  prog- 
gress,  discipline,  transfers,  etc.,  of  the  apprentices 
are  handled  by  recommendations  from  this  board  to 
the  Mechanical  Officer  of  the  shop  for  his  action  and 
finally  by  reference  to  the  Supervisor  of  Apprentices. 


RAILROAD   SHOPS   AND   LOCOMOTIVE   WOUKS      171 

This  administrative  plan  is  particularly  stressed  as 
essential  to  the  successful  working  of  the  system,  as  it 
leads  each  shop  officer  to  take  a  personal  interest  in 
the  apprentices.  It  is  also  said  to  have  "  created  an 
interest  in  the  other  shop  employees  by  the  foreman, 
a  personal  interest  and  desire  upon  the  part  of  each 
foreman  to  treat  all  his  men  with  that  interest  and 
feeling  which  begets  loyalty  and  service."  It  would 
seem  that  this  secondary  function  paralleled  that  of 
the  foremen's  school  now  found  in  so  many  progressive 
plants. 

Apprentice  Pay. — The  pay  of  the  apprentices  on 
this  road  is  at  the  following  rates:  first  six  months 
period,  29  cents;  second  period,  31 J  cents;  third 
period,  34  cents;  fourth  period,  36 J  cents;  fifth  period, 
39  cents;  sixth  period,  41J  cents;  seventh  period, 
46  cents;  eighth  period,  54  cents. 

Special  Course  for  Graduate  Apprentices. — Engi- 
neering college  graduates  are  also  admitted  to  a  two 
years'  course,  one  year  on  machines  and  one  on  the 
erecting  floor.  While  in  this  course,  they  are  known 
as  special  apprentices. 

A  selected  group  is  then  made  up  of  those  who  have 
made  a  satisfactory  showing  in  this  two-year  course 
for  college  men  and  from  the  regular  apprentice  grad- 
uates. These  picked  young  men  who  are  designated 
graduate-apprentices,  are  then  put  through  a  year's 
training  for  development  into  future  company  officers. 

This  year's  training  is  made  up  as  follows: 

(1)  They  serve  two  months  in  the  boiler  shop, 
where  they  familiarize  themselves  with  flues,  patches, 
front  end,  Federal  laws,  etc.,  taking  at  the  same  time 
a  course  of  reading  and  study  on  boilers  and  equipment. 


172  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

(2)  Following  this  they  next  enter  the  freight  car 
shops  to  serve  two  months  on  trucks,  body,  air  brakes, 
and  inspection,  while  at  the  same  time  pursuing  a 
course  of  study  of  standards  in  car  work. 

(3)  Their  next  appointment  is  for  four  months  in  a 
round  house,   where  they  are  taught  the  complete 
operation  from  the  time  when  an  engine  enters  until 
when  again  in  shape  it  is  headed  out.     This  includes 
cleaning  fire,  fueling,  watering,  repairing  when  neces- 
sary and  the  "  paper  work  "  of  despatching  and  han- 
dling reports.     This  is  accompanied  with  the  study  of 
text  on  locomotives. 

(4)  The  Traveling  Engineer  next  takes  them  in 
charge,  teaching  them  to  fire,  with  a  study  of  fuel 
economy,  to  operate  the  engine,  make  out  the  Road 
Foreman's  report,  and  at  the  same  time  make  a  study 
of  the  individual  parts  of  the  machinery — lubricators, 
safety  valves,   and  the  like.     Along  with  this  they 
must  be  absorbing  Federal  and  company  rules  for  the 
inspection  and  care  of  locomotives. 

(5)  Their  last  assignment  is  for  one  month,  each 
inspecting  incoming  and  outgoing  locomotives.     This 
brings  to  a  close  the  year's  graduate  apprentice  course. 

Each  month  each  graduate  apprentice  must  write  a 
letter  to  the  supervisor  covering  the  work  done  and 
offering  a  criticism  of  shop  methods,  when  he  can 
suggest  some  remedy.  In  each  branch  he  must,  in 
these  letters,  answer  Ijdauestions  bearing  on  the  work. 

While  it  is  planned  to  be  and  is  considered  a  very 
difficult  course,  more  than  SQjper  cent  starting  it  com- 
plete it.  It  is  advocatedas  providing  the  essential 
experience  in  the  departments  other  than  the  one 
where  experience  through  apprenticeship  had  been 


RAILROAD  SHOPS  AND  LOCOMOTIVE  WORKS     173 

gained.  Thus,  two  months  in  the  boiler  shop  does 
not  make  a  boilermaker,  but  it  does  provide  knowledge 
essential  to  the  future  roundhouse  or  shop  foreman. 

To  justify  the  apprentice  system,  the  following 
figures  were  presented  by  the  supervisor: 

Seventy-two  per  cent  of  those  graduated  were  still 
with  the  company. 

Twenty-five  per  cent  had  been  appointed  to  some 
position  of  responsibility. 

For  six  years  no  mechanics  have  been  employed 
other  than  through  the  apprentice  route. 

Apprentice  wages  the  first  six  months  are  about 
one-third  of  journeymen's  rates,  while  they  produce 
about  75  per  cent,  on  an  average,  of  the  amount  ac- 
complished by  the  adult  workman.  Much  of  the 
apparent  profit,  it  should,  however,  be  recognized,  is 
absorbed  in  the  increased  and  higher  grade  super- 
vision as  well  as  the  somewhat  greater  amount  of 
spoiled  work,  broken  machinery,  and  general  incon- 
venience attending  the  utilization  of  apprentices. 
The  real  profit  comes  through  the  building  up  of  a 
superior  group  of  responsible  mechanics. 

To  show  what  is  being  accomplished  by  another 
railroad,  there  is  appended  extracts  from  a  letter 
under  date  of  April  28,  1920,  from  the  General  Super- 
intendent Motive  Power  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Com- 
pany to  the  author: 

"Our  first  apprentice  schools  were  established  in  January,  1912, 
and  today  we  have  apprentice  instructors  at  ten  of  the  principal 
shops.  We  have  two  general  shops  on  this  system:  Los  Angeles 
and  Sacramento.  In  the  former  we  now  have  employed  140  appren- 
tices and  in  the  latter  223.  On  the  system  we  have  a  total  of  730 
apprentices  employed  at  this  time  and  about  50  per  cent  of  these 
are  taking  up  the  Machinists'  trade.  The  other  trades  represented 


174  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

are  Boilermakers,  Blacksmiths,  Sheet  Metal  Workers,  Electrical 
Workers,  Carmen,  and  Molders. 

"Since  the  establishment  of  apprentice  schools  on  this  system 
in  January,  1912,  we  have  graduated  in  the  neighborhood  of  500 
boys  and  about  80  per  cent  of  these  are  still  working  for  the  com- 
pany as  mechanics. 

"In  addition  to  receiving  several  hours  of  instruction  each  week 
in  mathematics,  drawing,  etc.,  in  the  classroom  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  apprentice  instructor,  the  apprentices  are  under  the 
observation  of  and  receive  instructions  from  the  various  shop 
foremen." 

No.  26 
THE  AMERICAN  LOCOMOTIVE  COMPANY,  SCHENECTADY,  N.  Y. 

The  American  Locomotive  Company  has  a  normal 
capacity  for  employing  5,500  workers.  At  the  time 
the  plant  was  visited  about  3,500  were  on  the  payroll. 
It  is  this  fluctuation  in  employing  capacity,  dependent 
on  the  demand  for  locomotives,  which  probably  ac- 
counts for  the  only  partial  development  of  apprentice- 
ship in  this  plant  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  company 
has  the  avowed  policy  of  fostering  this  method  of 
training  and  employs  an  apparently  capable  man  as 
apprentice  superintendent. 

The  enrollment  of  apprentices  was  as  follows : 

Drafting 38 

Machinists 17 

Foundry 15 

Coremakers 6 

Moulders 9 

Electrician 1 

Patternmakers 12 

Total 83 

In  this  plant  it  is  the  policy  to  place  apprentices  in 
a  single  department  for  their  entire  apprenticeship. 


RAILROAD   SHOPS   AND   LOCOMOTIVE   WORKS     175 

Thus,  the  machinist  apprentices  were  distributed, 
four  in  the  toolmaking  shop,  two  in  brass  finishing, 
two  in  die  sinking,  one  with  a  repair  gang,  and  eight 
listed  as  all-around  machinists 

In  the  shops  the  pay  is  uniform,  starting  at  thirty 
cents  an  hour  and  increasing  by  two  and  one-half 
cents  every  six  months  until  forty-seven  and  one-half 
cents  is  reached  for  the  final  period.  A  bonus  of  two 
cents  an  hour  is  also  paid  those  who  maintain  "  B  " 
grade  of  work  and  of  four  cents  an  hour  for  "  A  " 
grade.  For  the  draftsmen  the  pay  starts  at  twenty- 
eight  cents  and  increases  to  forty-five  cents  with 
similar  bonuses  for  superior  work. 

In  the  apprentice  school  there  is  a  carefully  laid 
out  course  of  related  work  for  the  draftsmen  for  which 
three  hours  of  company  time  is  set  aside  each  week. 
This  consists  of  locomotive  design,  mathematics,  and 
such  elements  of  mechanics,  physics,  and  chemistry 
as  find  a  direct  application  in  the  construction  of  loco- 
motives. Related  work  instruction  is  limited  to  one 
hour  a  week  for  both  machinists  and  patternmakers, 
while  apprentices  to  the  other  trades  are  not  required 
to  attend  classes. 

It  should  be  noted  that  there  are  no  indentures  or 
signed  agreements  with  the  apprentices,  so  that  the 
company  is  free  to  suspend  or  drop  apprentices  if  the 
lack  of  orders  makes  it  desirable.  The  apprentices 
are,  however,  paid  a  bonus  of  $150,  if  they  complete 
the  four  years  of  service.  Also,  in  that  event,  a  cer- 
tificate is  conferred,  which  is  in  duplicate,  one  being 
of  usual  size  and  the  other  of  about  postal  card  di- 
mensions, so  as  to  be  conveniently  carried  in  the  pocket. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

AN  APPRENTICE  PROGRAM  IN  THE 
PRINTING  INDUSTRY 

THE  Lakeside  Press  of  Chicago  is  the  only  one  dis- 
covered which  had  developed  an  apprentice  system  by 
which  it  could  itself  provide  the  supplementary  in- 
struction. l  In  New  York  City  the  Hudson  Guild  (a 
philanthropic  institution)  provides  a  school  for  com- 
positors which  is  cooperatively  maintained  by  the  em- 
ployers and  the  unions.  The  pressmen  maintain 
their  own  school  by  utilizing  correspondence  courses. 
2  In  Chicago  there  has  also  been  developed  a  coopera- 
tive school  among  the  publishers  for  training  their 
apprentices. 

No.  27 
R.  R.  DONNELLEY  &  SONS  COMPANY,  CHICAGO,  ILL 

The  R.  R.  Donnelley  &  Sons  Company  are  pro- 
prietors of  the  Lakeside  Press  in  which  a  school  for 
apprentices  has  been  conducted  since  1908.  In  this 
school  the  outstanding  feature  is  the  length  of  the 
course  since  it  totals  a  period  of  seven  years  of  pro- 
duction under  instruction  with  classes  to  provide  the 

1  Industrial  Education  Survey  of  New  York  City,  p.  29. 

2  National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools,  8th  Report,  p.  213. 

176 


APPRENTICE  PROGRAM  IN  PRINTING  INDUSTRY    177 

related  academic  and  technical  phases  of  the  highly 
skilled  trades  embraced.  This  is  divided  into  a  two 
years'  preapprenticeship  and  a  five  years'  regular 
apprenticeship  course  before  admission  to  full  journey- 
man's standing.  There  are  now  about  fifty  pre-ap- 
prentices  and  100  apprentices  in  all  stages  and  in  all 
departments. 

Pre-apprenticeship  Course. — To  enter  a  boy  must 
be  a  grammar  school  graduate  between  fourteen  and 
fifteen  years  of  age — the  nearer  fourteen  the  better. 
He  must  show  good  standing  in  his  studies  and  when 
necessary  a  physical  examination  will  be  given.  Se- 
lections are  made  with  considerable  care  only  after 
the  boy  has  applied  by  letter  and  then  passed  a  satis- 
factory interview  with  the  supervisor.  The  latter 
even  visits  the  boy's  home  that  he  may  obtain  assur- 
ances of  the  parents'  cooperation  in  looking  after 
their  son's  welfare  and  to  satisfy  himself  of  the  boy's 
satisfactory  moral  character  and  genuine  desire  to 
learn  the  printing  trade.  If  everything  is  satisfactory 
the  boy  serves  a  trial  period  at  the  conclusion  of  which 
if  agreeable  to  all  parties  the  boy  and  his  parents  sign 
an  agreement  with  the  company  for  the  whole  seven 
years'  term  of  apprenticeship. 

During  the  pre-apprenticeship  period  the  boys 
spend  each  day  three  and  one-half  hours  in  the  appren- 
tice school  and  four  and  one-half  hours  in  the  shop. 
The  shop  work  is  either  at  machine  operation  or  in  the 
counting-room. 

The  course  of  study  in  the  school  seems  eminently 
suited  for  the  purpose,  better  than  would  probably  be 
provided  in  the  public  schools  and  at  the  same  time 
the  boys  are  making  some  progress  toward  the  acquisi- 


178  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

tion  of  their  trades  and  earning  something  toward 
their  own  maintenance  and  allowances  for  diversion. 

Thus  as  is  desirable  for  compositors,  English  is  given 
particular  emphasis  with  stress  on  spelling  but  recog- 
nition is  also  given  to  grammar,  composition  and  oral 
reading.  Training  in  the  use  of  the  dictionary  is 
mentioned.  Also  as  it  is  recognized  that  in  these 
trades  a  literary  background  is  desirable  each  student 
is  required  to  read  and  report  on  six  volumes  of  stand- 
ard literature. 

An  introduction  to  the  technical  phases  of  the  trades 
is  also  made  with  study  of  proofreading,  the  signs 
used  in  printing  and  an  extended  study  of  type  as  to  its 
chemistry,  and  the  history  of  its  development  as  deter- 
mining its  style.  Some  study  is  also  made  of  paper 
BO  that  the  student  has  as  a  background  the  history  of 
this  element  in  his  trade,  knows  something  of  its  manu- 
facture and  all  the  varieties  and  qualities  which  he 
will  have  occasion  to  use. 

There  is  also  provided  a  history  of  printing  and  of 
the  printing  press  as  a  second  year  course.  Some  of 
the  technique  of  composition  is  also  taken  up — the 
design  of  a  well  proportioned  page,  the  cost  of  compo- 
sition of  a  given  job  and  the  amount  of  stock  neces- 
sary. 

The  trade  instruction  is  mainly  of  work  in  com- 
position-spacing, justification,  taking  a  proof,  and  cor- 
recting. In  the  second  year  the  making  of  a  book 
and  the  insertion  of  engravings  are  also  presented. 

Considerable  attention  is  also  properly  given  to  art 
features — layouts,  designs,  and  color.  All  of  these  are 
illustrated  by  concrete  examples  of  advertisements, 
cards,  title-pages  and  covers.  In  color  the  names  of 


APPRENTICE  PROGRAM  IN  PRINTING  INDUSTRY    179 

the  standard  tints  and  shades,  of  harmony  by  gra- 
dation and  contrast  and  the  use  of  colored  inks  on 
tinted  paper  are  taught. 

Apprenticeship  Courses. — The  regular  apprentice- 
ship period  of  five  years  follows  the  preliminary 
course.  "  Each  department  has  a  special  course 
based  upon  the  needs  of  the  apprentices  in  that  branch 
of  the  trade.  The  work  is  almost  wholly  individual 
and  is  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  learner.  No  abso- 
lute set  time  is  planned  for  each  subject  as  factory 
conditions  do  not  allow  such  a  procedure.  Each 
apprentice  is  required  to  complete  the  work  outlined 
for  a  department  before  graduation  from  the  course. 
By  excellence  of  work  the  period  of  apprenticeship 
may  be  shortened." 

The  practical  work  and  supplementary  instruc- 
tion is  differentiated  for  the  four  major  departments: 
Composing  Room,  Press  Rooms,  the  Bindery,  and 
the  Photo-engraving  Departments. 

In  the  composing  room  the  trade  work  is  closely 
supervised  and  of  course  provides  the  main  body 
of  instruction.  It  is,  however,  supplemented  during 
all  the  five  years  by  much  related  work  as  is  desir- 
able for  the  high-grade  compositor.  In  the  first 
year  this  consists  of  some  of  the  non-productive 
work  of  the  pre-apprentice  course  in  review  such  as 
proving  job  work,  handling  materials,  and  the  com- 
position of  both  plain  matter  and  job  work.  More 
advanced  problems  form  the  basis  of  the  second  and 
third  years  in  the  composition  of  tabular  and  catalogue 
material  and  book  make-up.  In  the  fourth  year 
the  apprentices  are  finally  worked  into  the  depart- 
ment for  which  they  show  the  greatest  aptitude  and 


180  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

interest.  This  includes  the  selection  of  operators 
for  linotypes  and  monotypes.  The  fifth  year  pro- 
vides for  specialization  in  the  department  selected 
with  study  of  layout  to  develop  originality  and 
character. 

In  the  press  rooms  the  related  technical  instruc- 
tion consists  of  a  study  of  the  terms  used,  materials, 
paper,  forms,  inks  and  rollers.  The  parts  of  the 
press  are  carefully  studied  with  their  care  and  effect 
of  weather  and  climate.  The  duties  of  the  feeder 
and  pressman  are  also  considered  and  a  great  deal 
of  attention  given  to  color  which  is,  of  course,  the 
important  technical  element  of  this  department. 

For  those  in  the  bindery  evening  classes  are 
provided  from  5:45  P.M.  to  7:15  P.M.  in  the  school 
room.  The  academic  work  covers  about  the  same 
field  as  given  the  apprentices  in  the  other  depart- 
ments being  based  on  the  work  done  in  the  pre- 
apprentice  classes. 

There  are  also  evening  classes  with  the  same 
general  outline  of  work  provided  for  the  apprentices 
in  the  photoengraving -department.  As  applied  chem- 
istry forms  an  important  element  in  the  trades  of 
this  department  apprentices  are  encouraged  to  study 
that  subject  in  the  public  evening  high  schools.  The 
apprentices  are  given  a  general  idea  of  the  different 
operations  in  the  department  but  can  learn  but  one 
of  the  trades  involved.  In  Commercial  Photography 
they  are  taught  the  preparing  and  mixing  of  chemicals 
used.  Study  is  also  made  of  the  problems  arising 
in  interior  and  exterior  views,  in  copying,  enlarging, 
and  reducing.  In  Line  Photography  study  is  given 
to  sensitizing  plates,  timing  exposures,  developing, 


APPRENTICE  PROGRAM  IN  PRINTING  INDUSTRY    181 

clearing  with  cyanide,  etc.  In  half-tone  photography, 
the  printing,  etching,  finishing,  and  drawing  all  have 
their  respective  technical  phases  taken  up  with  appro- 
priate instruction. 

Courses  for  High  School  Graduates. — Special 
courses  for  high  school  graduates  are  also  maintained 
in  the  school.  Each  year  a  group  of  carefully  selected 
young  men  who  have  completed  a  high  school  course 
are  employed  and  spend  some  time  in  learning  how 
printing  is  produced  in  order  to  prepare  for  executive 
positions  in  the  offices  or  the  factory.  Every  oppor- 
tunity is  given  to  learn  the  business,  the  length  of 
time  served  depending  upon  the  line  of  work  selected, 
for  some  it  is  one  and  one-half  years,  while  others 
require  three  years  to  complete  their  course. 

Apprentice  Pay. — The  pre-apprentice  starts  at  $6.00 
a  week.  If  during  the  first  three  months  a  standing 
of  90  per  cent  is  maintained,  during  the  next  three 
months  the  pay  is  raised  $0.50  and  a  like  raise  on  the 
same  basis  is  provided  for  the  second  six  months. 

During  the  second  year  the  students  who  main- 
tained the  90  per  cent  standing  during  their  first 
year  start  at  $8.00  a  week  and  are  promoted  to 
$8.50  the  second  half  year.  All  others  receive  $7.00 
and  $7.50  respectively. 

Apprenticeship  starts  at  20  cents  an  hour  with 
three-cent  increases  every  six  months  during  the  first 
two  years  and  four-cent  raises  during  the  last  three 
years  of  apprenticeship.  A  special  advance  of  three 
cents  an  hour  may  be  made  during  the  first  year  of 
apprenticeship  as  reward  for  exceptional  merit  and 
ability.  Also  in  place  of  the  usual  bonus  at  the 
termination  of  apprenticeship,  the  company  deposits 


182  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

$2.00  a  week  at  the  employee's  mutual  earnings 
association  and  while  the  apprentice  receives  the 
bank  book  covering  the  account  as  an  aid  in  establish- 
ing the  saving  habit,  he  cannot  withdraw  the  account 
until  the  apprenticeship  is  completed. 


SECTION  III 


CHAPTER  IX 

PROGRAMS   EMPHASIZING   SPECIAL 
TRAINING 

MANY  corporations  for  whose  purposes  apprentice- 
ship seemed  unsuitable  have  nevertheless  found  it 
desirable  to  introduce  special  training.  Six  special 
examples  of  this  have  been  studied.  The  Submarine 
Boat  Corporation  provides  an  outstanding  example 
from  the  boat  building  industry  which  was  so  quickly 
developed  by  this  means  during  the  war.  The  Gisholt 
Machine  Company  offers  an  example  by  a  machine 
manufacturer  of  upgrading  training  for  its  cus- 
tomers. In  the  Sperry  Gyroscope  study  is  described 
a  plan  of  curtailed  training  of  adults  for  toolmaking. 
The  United  Shoe  Machinery  Company  provide  an 
example  of  intensive  training  of  machine  operatives 
and  of  the  cooperative  system  of  training  young 
workers. 

No.  28 

THE  SUBMARINE  BOAT  CORPORATION,  NEWARK,  N.  J. 

The  Submarine  Boat  Coporation's  Newark  Bay 
plant  is  in  present  proportions  an  outgrowth  of  the 
Great  War.  When  it  became  evident  that  one  of  the 
great  contributions  of  the  United  States  was  to  be 
"  ships  and  yet  more  ships,"  this  corporation  con- 

183 


184  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

tracted  to  provide  one  hundred  and  fifty  ships  on 
a  new  basis.  They  were  to  be  fabricated  to  stand- 
ardized dimensions  of  ordinary  structural  steel  95 
per  cent  of  which  could  be  rolled  and  shaped  at 
various  points  from  Milwaukee  to  Boston.  The 
remaining  5  per  cent  it  was  decided  could  be  most 
expeditiously  shaped  to  special  needs  at  the  Newark 
works.  The  unit  was  to  be  the  5,350-ton  steel  cargo 
carrier  for  which  ways  were  constructed  so  that 
twenty-eight  could  be  built  at  such  a  rate  that  a 
ship  was  to  be  launched  every  two  days. 

They  had  the  capital,  organization  and  location 
at  hand, — labor  it  might  be  said  was  almost  wholly 
lacking.  The  United  States  had  never  embarked  on 
shipbuilding  in  the  proportions  now  suddenly  de- 
manded and  could  of  course  not  draw  on  European 
sources  for  labor  as  had  been  our  practice  in  inaugu- 
rating new  industries  in  previous  times.  Men  had 
to  be  drawn  from  all  fields  of  peace-time  industry. 
There  was  not  even  a  supply  of  workers  in  steel  from 
other  industries  as  obviously  army,  navy,  and  muni- 
tion requirements  were  absorbing  more  than  all  peace- 
time industry  had  trained.  Some  could  be  obtained 
by  conversion  from  more  or  less  closely  related  trades 
but  most  must  be  wholly  inexperienced  workers  in 
this  field.  The  problem  was  obviously  greatly  simpli- 
fied by  the  fact  that  construction  of  the  fabricated 
ship  obviated  the  necessity  for  a  considerable  force 
of  mold-loftsmen  and  layer-outs,  craftsmen  for  whom 
apprenticeship  is  as  essential  as  for  patternmakers 
and  who  are  indispensable  in  the  traditional  type  of 
shipbuilding  in  which  any  model  of  ship  is  con- 
structed to  order.  Essentially  the  difference  is  between 


PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING   SPECIAL  TRAINING     185 

readymade  and  custommade  tailoring,  the  number  of 
skilled  craftsmen  being  obviously  greatly  reduced  in 
the  former  case. 

Intensive  Training. — Special  training  was  inaugu- 
rated in  December,  1917,  by  sending  fifty  mechanics 
to  a  government  training  center  for  a  brief  training 
in  instruction  methods.  This  number  was  subse- 
quently increased  until  the  force  of  instructors  on 
September  15,  1918,  consisted  of  130  men.  Actual 
training  by  these  men  started  March  1,  1918,  and  a 
force  of  14,000  specialists  in  all  the  trades  required 
was  built  up.  The  instructors  it  should  be  remarked 
were  selected  as  superior  mechanics  and  paid  a  salary 
in  excess  of  that  to  regular  foremen.  The  raw 
material  on  which  they  had  to  work  were  recruits 
drawn  from  all  departments  of  labor,  such  as  painters, 
bell  boys,  street  car  conductors,  wiremen,  salesmen, 
and  gardeners,  whom  the  attractiveness  of  the  in- 
dustry, hopes  of  big  pay,  or  "  work  or  fight  "  social 
pressure  made  available.  It  is  the  remarkable  fact  that 
records  show  that  in  a  relatively  short  time  the  newly 
trained  men  were  working  at  standard  production 
rates. 

The  number  trained  for  each  operation  may  be 
seen  from  the  following  table  of  totals  to  July  1,  1919: 

Bolters 4,000      Pipehangers 84 

Heaters 1,720      Erecting  Machinists 77 

Reamers  and  Drillers ....  1,591  Packing,  Marketing,  Bend- 
Riveters 1,174          ing  and  Tool  Repair 70 

Holders-on 1,081      Electric  Welders 50 

Chippers  and  Caulkers.  . .  486       Pipe  Coverers 52 

Regulators 244      Painters 41 

Pipefitters 162      Plumbers 38 

Shipfitters 124 

Linennen 109                  Total 11,109 


186  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

It  will  be  seen  that  bolters  and  the  workers  at  the 
several  operations  of  riveting  constitute  the  major 
portion  of  this  list.  It,  however,  includes  electric 
welders  whose  work  was  much  more  utilized  than 
had  been  the  previous  practice  in  shipbuilding. 

Our  present  interest  is  in  the  fact  that  it  has  been 
found  practicable  to  continue  the  method  under  peace- 
time conditions,  and  that  lack  of  urgency  has  not 
greatly  changed  the  methods  of  procedure.  It  may 
be  said  that  the  chief  difference  is  a  present  tendency 
to  utilize  two  or  three  times^a&jnany  days  in  training 
in  some  of  the  operations  in  order  that  complete 
learning  may  be  assured  before  the  transfer  is  made 
to  the  regular  production  departments. 

At  present  (May  1,  1920)  the  staff  consists  of 
ff>rt.y-t.w.n  instructors  giving  training  to  two  hundred 
and  fift^jnen.  This  is  some  one  hundred  and  fifty 
below  the  number  possible  with  the  present  staff, 
as  experience  shows  that  an  average  is  required  of 
about  one  instructor  to  tan  learners.  In  some 
trades  the  best  proportion  is  one  to  five;  in 
others  one  instructor  can  efficiently  handle  fifteen 
learners. 

The  average  period  of  systematic  training  in  the 
respective  trades,  based  on  the  practice  followed 
during  the  stress  for  quick  preparation,  was  as 
follows : 

Riveters 24  days      Chippers  and  Caulkers ...  42  days 


Holders-on 18 

Heaters 25 

Bolters ,     9 

Regulators 19 

Shipfitters 33 

Linermen .  .  .16 


Reamers  and  Drillers ....  12 

Electric  Welders 30 

Pipefitters.. 40 

Pipe  Coverers  (asbestos). .  20 

Outside  Machinists 32 

Painters.  .  .  40 


PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  SPECIAL  TRAINING     187 

Training  for  regulators  and  linermen  is  being  dis- 
continued and  it  has  been  found  possible  to  fill  all 
requisitions  for  erectors  from  the  structural  steel 
workers  in  general  industry  who  presumably  follow 
prevalent  practice  of  gaining  experience  by  being 
employed  as  helpers. 

The  wastage  in  the  product  by  riveters  in  training 
has  been  found  to  be  at  the  rate  of  2J  per  cent  while 
5  per  cent  is  the  corresponding  average  of  ordinary 
production,  showing  that  from  the  start  the  men  in 
training  are  held  to  greater  exactness  in  execution 
than  are  the  ordinary  workers.  This  has  been  the 
practice  throughout  of  insisting  on  quality  with  the 
expectation  that  speed  would  come  with  experience. 
This  relative  rate  of  work  is  shown  by  the  analysis 
of  rivet  driving,  the  week  ending  November  29,  1919, 
being  taken  as  example: 

Average  per  hour  for  total  yard 46 . 5  — 

Skilled  average  per  hour 54 

Training  average  per  hour 15 

While  the  policy  of  the  training  department  is  to 
carry  on  training  under  exactly  production  con- 
ditions, efficient  training  makes  it  desirable  to  start 
the  men  in  the  way  yards  but  always  on  production 
jobs.  Thus  at  present  fifty  are  being  started  on  the 
ground  while  the  remainder  of  the  two  hundred  and 
fifty  in  training  are  at  work  on  the  ships  under  in- 
structor guidance.  In  this  way  full  experience  is 
gained  of  work  on  scaffolding  and  upon  the  more 
difficult  bottom  shell  before  going  over  to  the  hull 
department.  After  this  transfer  they  are  given  a 
week's  try  out  by  the  latter  department  with  the 
understanding  that  they  are  to  be  returned  to  the 


188  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

training  department  if  unsatisfactory.  This  oppor- 
tunity has  been  utilized  in  only  4  per  cent  of  all 
cases. 

Foreman  Training. — The  special  training  outlined 
of  course  only  provides  for  the  rank  and  file  employed. 
The  training  department  is  also  engaged  in  improve- 
ment work  for  the  foremen.  This  was  originally 
planned  by  the  management  to  be  compulsory,  but 
the  success  of  the  program  has  quite  clearly  vindi- 
cated the  opinion  of  the  director  that  it  should  be 
optional. 

The  work  began  in  May,  1919,  and  since  then  about 
two  hundred  seventy-five  have  attended  or  are  attend- 
ing the  classes.  This  is  from  a  total  of  five  to  six 
hundred  foremen  and  pushers,  all  of  whom  are  eligible 
to  take  the  course.  Approximately  one  hundred  are 
at  present  in  the  classes  while  one  hundred  thirty 
have  already  been  graduated. 

The  course  lasts,  eighteen  to  twenty  weeks  for 
two  hours  per  week.  The  foremen  are  divided  into 
nine  groups  of  twelve  men  each.  For  these  three 
intsructors  are  employed  to  hold  the  classes  with 
an  additional  instructor  for  follow  up  work.  Their 
large  amount  of  free  time  all  these  instructors  spend 
in  gaining  contact  with  the  men  and  their  administra- 
tive problems. 

For  the  purpose  of  instruction,  foremanship  is  con- 
sidered a  distinct  trade  which  has  been  analyzed  into 
fourteen  jobs  or  responsibilities,  such  as  inspection, 
distribution  of  labor,  securing  cooperation,  attendance, 
reducing  turn  over,  selection,  planning,  etc. 

To  illustrate  the  content  and  manner  of  handling — 
in  cooperation,  the  following  phases  are  considered: 


PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  SPECIAL  TRAINING     189 

Cooperation  with  superintendents 
with  other  foremen 
with  pushers 
with  men 

between  men  in  the  gang 
with  the  Company 
with  other  departments 

The  method  in  the  class  is  essentially  the  case 
system.  The  instructors  do  no  lecturing  but  direct 
and  supervise  discussion.  To  give  an  idea  of  this 
the  following  cases  are  taken  from  different  parts 
of  the  course : 

Inspection  • 

1.  A  berth  was  turned  over  to  a  foreman  as  com- 
pleted.    This  foreman  put   a  gang  to   work   on  it. 
After  the  men  had  been  working  a  short  time  they 
discovered  that  the  berth  was  incomplete   and  so 
were  forced  to  stop.     What  trouble  was  probably 
caused  by  this  situation?     Who  were  to  blame?    How 
could  it  have  been  prevented? 

Selection  of  Men 

2.  One  foreman  believes  it  is  a  wise  plan  to  work 
a  lazy  man  with  a  man  full  of  "  pep."     Do  you  agree 
with  him?     Why  or  why  not? 

Cooperation 

3.  A  foreman  was  unable  to  put  a  gang  on  a  certain 
berth  because  it  was  not  in  proper  condition.     He 
immediately  reported  it  to  his  superintendent  and 
asked  him  to  order  the  preceding  craft  to  make  it 
right.     Would  you  handle  a  similar  situation  in  your 


190  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

trade  in  the  same  way?  Give  reasons  for  your 
answer. 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  such  a  course  is  very 
concrete  and  well  fitted  to  prepare  the  foremen  to 
think  out  their  proper  procedure  whatever  the 
situation  that  may  arise  and  perhaps  to  revise  their 
previous  practice.  Moreover,  such  a  course  is  less 
likely  to  arouse  undesirable  antagonism  in  the  minds 
of  men  perhaps  long  accustomed  to  handle  men, 
whether  or  not  satisfactorily,  than  one  in  which  an 
instructor  merely  lectures  the  men  as  to  what  are  their 
duties. 

Instructor  Training.— It  is  the  opinion  of  the 
Director  of  Training  that  too  much  emphasis  can- 
not be  placed  on  the  necessity  for  adequacy  in  the 
training  of  the  instructors.  Their  initial  training 
at  a  government  training  center  has  already  been 
mentioned.  It  is  his  present  plan  to  supplement 
this  by  a  course  of  training  somewhat  similar  to  that 
just  sketched  for  foremen. 

Similarly,  two  hours  a  week  for  four  or  five  months 
would  be  given  to  a  man  and  job  analysis  of  the 
elements  essential  in  training.  As  with  the  foremen 
the  instructors  would  be  divided  into  small  groups 
and  the  instruction  would  be  largely  in  the  form  of 
discussion. 

Thus  skill  as  an  element  in  the  man-training  pro- 
gram would  find  its  counterpart  in  the  selection  of 
a  suitable  series  of  jobs  which  provide  for  increasing 
difficulty  of  execution.  Similarly  to  train  for  con- 
fidence, graduated  increases  in  the  element  of  danger 
would  be  required;  for  agility,  the  counterpart  is  in 
the  increasing  difficulty  to  overcome  inaccessibility. 


PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  SPECIAL  TRAINING     191 

These  elements  mentioned  are  of  course  but  illustra- 
tive of  the  process  by  which  an  analysis  of  the  problems 
of  training  is  developed  and  applied  and  are  seen  to 
represent  elements  common  in  general  to  the  trades 
represented  in  this  type  of  shipbuilding.  The  pro- 
gram provides  a  novel  example  of  the  development 
of  the  theory  of  training  in  what  must  be  the  key- 
stone of  the  system — the  adequate  training  of  the 
instructors. 

Organization  of  the  Training  Department. — The 
training  department  is  organized  as  a  distinct  depart- 
ment from  the  employment  and  production  depart- 
ments, with  both  of  which  it  of  course  must  closely 
cooperate.  At  its  head  is  the  director,  a  man  appren- 
tice trained  with  a  long  practical  experience  in  pro- 
duction as  well  as  in  industrial  education.  His  staff 
of  forty-two  full  time  instructors  has  already  been 
mentioned.  Such  an  organization,  coordinate  with 
the  other  major  departments,  naturally  possesses  the 
dignity  and  is  assured  of  the  proper  support  essential 
in  providing  the  training  for  recruits  and  the  "  up- 
grading "  for  the  foremen. 

No.  29 
DENNISON  MANUFACTURING  Co.,  FRAMINGHAM,  MASS. 

The  Dennison  Company  offers  an  example  of  what 
may  be  considered  as  the  normal  course  of  develop- 
ment of  special  training  in  an  industry.  It  is  a  con- 
cern with  approximately  2700  employees  about  equally 
divided  between  the  two  sexes.  Its  products  are 
a  variety  of  paper  specialties  such  as  shipping  tags, 
crepe  paper,  and  various  art-paper  products  requiring 


192  EMPLOYEE   TRAINING 

a  large  number  of  specialized  machine  operators  and 
hand  manipulators.  In  many  cases  these  require 
considerable  skill  of  a  highly  specialized  sort  but  in 
no  case  of  a  type  to  warrant  apprenticeship. 

For  about  six  years  the  policy  of  the  corporation 
has  been  developing  of  providing  special  training 
for  the  recruits  to  this  industry  and  for  upgrading 
superior  employees  selected  for  promotion  or  for 
improvement  of  such  employees  as  show  inferior 
production. 

The  development  in  the  plan  of  organization  for 
training  is  interesting  as  perhaps  significant  of  the 
usual  course  to  be  expected  in  a  corporation  adapting 
a  training  policy.  When  originally  established  it 
was  under  the  direction  of  the  personnel  manager 
as  coordinate  with  employment  and  employee  service 
activities.  An  experienced  teacher  was  employed  as 
supervisor  for  its  development. 

This  system  has  now  been  superseded  by  a  depart- 
ment of  educa^iofl^jidjgaimng  formed  distinct  from 
the  ftmplnymftnt.  d^p^,rtrneTrTT  ^which  still  handles  the 
other  activities.  As  head  of  this  new  department  is  the 
personnel  manager  of  the  previous  plan  of  organization. 
In  a  table  of  organization  for  the  whole  plant  the 
department  as  now  organized  is  coordinate  with 
production  and  employment  departments.  In  the 
department  are  being  developed  about  se^en^major 
types  with  supervisors  over  each,  but  of  these  train- 
ing fields  only  two  are  wholly  organized,  which  are 
tag  and  baggage-cTieck-making  and  table  or  bench 
work  bundling.  Others  to  be  developed  are  such 
fields  as  novelty  work  and  printing.  These  super- 
visors are  to  devote  their  attention  to  training  for 


PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  SPECIAL  TRAINING     193 

instructors  selected  expert  operators  in  the  special- 
ties in  their  fields. 

The  usual  practice  is  to  set  aside  on  the  regular  pro- 
duction floor  three  or  four  machines  for  instructional 
purposes  rather  than  providing  a  segregated  training 
department.  It  does  not  seem  to  be  established 
whether  an  instructor  after  being  selected  and  trained 
shall  be  occupied  solely  with  teaching  his  specialty. 
Probably  it  will  depend  on  circumstances.  If  the 
specialty  employs  a  very  large  number  of  operatives 
the  stream  of  recruits  will  doubtless  keep  the  instructor 
continuously  busy,  but  if  his  specialty  requires  a  more 
limited  number  of  workers  with  no  serious  turnover 
his  ordinary  employment  will  be  regular  production 
from  which  he  will  be  withdrawn  for  instructional 
purposes  when  required. 

Foreman  training  seems  to  have  gone  through  a 
first  stage  and  now  to  be  in  a  second  stage  of  develop- 
ment much  as  is  to  be  expected  of  this  department 
of  corporation  educational  activity.  Two  years  ago 
a  thoroughgoing  program  of  instructional  classes  for 
the  foremen  was  put  in  operation.  Now  that  all  the 
plant's  foremen  have  gone  through  this  training  that 
work  has  been  displaced  by  the  second  stage,  that 
of  monthly  conferences  of  the  foremen  and  administra- 
tive force  assembled  as  a  unit.  The  first  stage  was 
found  desirable  to  adapt  the  foremen  to  a  changing 
conception  of  his  duties  as  a  leader  rather  than  a 
pusher  or  driver  and  to  define  his  responsibilities  under 
a  functionalized  scheme  of  plant  organization  which 
brings  limitations  to  his  authority  which  he  frequently 
resents  unless  in  some  way  he  is  persuaded  of  the 
reasonableness  of  these  limitations. 


194  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

At  present,  investigations  are  being  conducted  in 
the  plant  to  establish  correct  principles  for  the  selec- 
tion of  individuals  for  training,  the  relation  of  training 
to  promotion,  and  of  the  period  of  learning  to  rate 
of  pay. 

No.  30 

GISHOLT  MACHINE  COMPANY  OF  MADISON,  Wis.* 

The  Gisholt  Machine  Company  furnishes  an 
example  of  a  well  formulated  "  up-grading  "  school. 
The  principal  product  of  this  firm  is  a  Turret  Lathe, 
the  setting  up  for  performing  a  particular  job  and 
care  of  which  has  been  found  sufficiently  complicated 
to  warrant  the  training  of  specialists  for  this  purpose. 
The  company  therefore  organized  some  six  years  ago 
a  training  school  at  their  manufacturing  plant  to 
which  their  customers  were  invited  to  send  selected 
employees  with  several  years  of  shop  experience  who 
were  to  be  placed  in  charge  of  the  new  machine  when 
installed. 

When  projected  the  course  was  expected  to  require 
a  year  for  completion  but  was  later  reduced  to  six 
months  and  a  careful  analysis  of  the  operations  to 
be  taught  has  reduced  the  course  to  eight  weeks  or 
less  comprising  in  all  25  separate  processes,  all  of 
which  the  student  must  not  only  learn  for  himself 
but  must  teach  to  another  learner,  both  because  that 
is  most  surely  believed  to  prove  that  he  has  himself, 
mastered  each  operation  and  also  because  he  will 
have  to  direct  the  operator  of  the  machine  in  his  own 
plant  when  later  he  has  the  responsibility  for  its 
satisfactory  performance. 

*  F.  H.  Colvin,  Am.  Machinist,  Vol.  43,  pp.  645-647,  813-819. 


PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  SPECIAL  TRAINING     195 
The  following  divisions  are  embraced  in  the  course: 

1.  Dismantling  a  Gisholt  Tool  Grinder  to  learn  its  construction. 

2.  Assembling,  adjusting  and  oiling  the  grinder. 

3.  Grinding  a  set  of  standard  tools  on  the  grinder  to  learn  clearance 

and  rake. 

4.  Brushing  and  cleaning  the  grinder  to  teach  care  and  neatness. 

5.  Dismantling  a  standard  Gisholt  Turret  Lathe. 

6.  Scraping  bearings,  V's,  etc.,  for  use  in  overhauling  machinery. 

7.  Assembling,  adjusting  and  oiling  the  lathe  to  learn  construction 

and  care. 

8.  Operating  28"  lathe  on  countershaft  pulleys  as  per  time  study. 

9.  Heavy  cuts  on  lathe  to  see  execution. 

10.  Placing  tools  on  lathe  as  per  layout  sheet  for  machinery  counter- 

shaft pulley. 

11.  Operating  28"  lathe  on  countershaft  pulleys  as  per  time  study. 

12.  Dismantling  tool  set-up  to  teach  proper  disposition  of  tools. 

13.  Cleaning  lathe  and  tools  to  teach  care  and  neatness. 

14.  Boring  jaws  on  lathe  for  practice. 

15.  Cutting  threads  on  lathe  to  learn  method  and  practice. 

16.  Turning  tapers  on  lathe  to  learn  method  and  practice. 

17.  Placing  tools  on  the  lathe  as  per  layout  for  drilling,  boring,  and 

reaming. 

18.  Operating  the  machine  on  a  steel  piece  for  experience  on  steel 

work. 

19.  Dismantling  set-up  and  cleaning  tools  to  teach  care  and  neatness. 

20.  Placing  tools  on  the  machine  as  per  layout  sheet  for  making. 

21.  Operating  machine  on  crosshead  pins  for  experience  with  bar  stock 

tools. 

22.  Dismantling  and  cleaning  up  tools  to  teach  care  and  neatness. 

23.  Cleaning  up  machine  to  teach  care  and  neatness. 

24.  Estimating — the  basis  for  planning  method  and  tooling  of  work. 

25.  Taking  a  new  man  for  a  trip  through  all  departments  of  the 

factory. 

The  only  supplementary  training  is  provided  by 
evening  classes  in  free-hand  sketching  which  is  found 
particularly  useful  in  designing  tools  and  discussing 
projected  jobs  for  which  the  machine  is  to  be  utilized. 

Forty  to  fifty  men  are  being  trained  at  all  times 
which  would  provide  for  five  to  eight  being  graduated 


196  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

each  week.  It  is  stated  that  investigation  has  shown 
that  40  per  cent  of  the  men  trained  are  promoted  to 
foremenships  within  a  year  of  graduation. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  training  is  for  the 
mechanic  who  is  to  have  the  responsibility  for  setting 
a  job  up  on  the  machine  and  for  keeping  it  in  repair 
and  not  for  the  tender  who  requires  chiefly  experience 
and  but  little  training. 

No.  31 

J.  &  T.  COUSINS,  SHOE  MANUFACTURERS, 
BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

The  Cousins  Shoe  Factory  is  a  plant  of  450  to  500 
employees  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  ladiejUiigh- 
grade  shoes.  Finding  itself  involved  in  labor  dif- 
ficulties, arising  it  was  believed  from  too  extensive 
employment  of  irresponsible  foreign  labor,  in  January, 
1919,  the  company  embarked  on  a  labor  training 
policy  to  build  up  as  high  grade  and  permanent  a 
personnel  as  could  be  attained.  This  has  consisted 
(1)  of  weekly  meetings  of  the  foremen  with  the  com- 
pany officials  in  which  the  problem  of  handling  work- 
men was  analyzed  and  improved  methods  inaugu- 
rated, and  (2)  of  training  every  new  recruit  to  the 
skilled  specialties  of  the  plant. 

Thus  far  in  the  fifteen  months  since  the  new  pro- 
gram was  inaugurated  some  one  hundred  persons 
have  been  trained.  Methods  seem  very  simple  and 
an  outsider  would  not  be  conscious  that  anything 
other  than  ordinary  production  was  taking  place. 
The  old  process  had  been  to  replace  a  man  who  quit 
or  was  fired  by  the  first  applicant  who  offered  him- 


PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  SPECIAL  TRAINING     197 

self  as  proficient  in  the  operation  involved.  This 
had  been  the  means  of  introducing  the  preponder- 
ance of  undesirable  foreigners.  The  new  method 
was  to  accept  a  novice  who  seemed  to  the  employ- 
ment department  satisfactory  as  to  general  physical 
and  intellectual  qualifications  but  with  no  require- 
ment of  previous  experience  in  the  shoe  industry, 
preference,  however,  being  given  to  native  Americans. 
Owing  to  the  large  number  of  ex-service  men  released 
during  the  past  year  by  discharge  from  the  army,  this 
has  led  to  the  recruiting  of  a  very  large  percentage 
of  these  young  men  who  had  never  previously  estab- 
lished themselves  in  any  trade. 

Ordinarily  the  practice  has  been  to  segregate  those 
in  training,  starting  them  to  work  under  one  experi- 
enced in  the  operation.  Best  results  are  said  to  be 
obtained  with  a  small  number,  ordinarily  five  or  six 
to  one  instructor  for  several  weeks  of  intensive  train- 
ing. The  learner  is  then  placed  at  work  at  regular 
production  alongside  of  an  experienced  man  who  gives 
the  new  man  such  hints  as  he  needs  to  continue  pick- 
ing up  the  process  and  the  foreman  also  devotes  to 
him  whatever  free  time  he  has  at  his  disposal.  In 
exceptional  cases  where  only  one  or  two  are  being 
trained  it  is  considered  impracticable  to  start  the 
beginner  in  a  segregated  department  and  the  teaching 
process  is  initiated  as  just  described  on  the  regular 
production  floor.  While  the  novice  under  training 
receives  a  fixed  wage,  the  experienced  man  is  paid 
on  a  piece  work  basis  and  it  would  seem  that  he  could 
be  expected  to  give  but  little  attention  to  the  learner, 
but  it  is  said  that  no  difficulty  has  arisen  from  this 
source  as  there  are  always  free  moments  between  the 


198  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

operations  required  in  regular  piecework.  It  should 
be  noted  that  the  training  here  mentioned  has  been 
at  various  types  of  hand  work  incidental  to  fine  shoe 
production  and  not  in  machine  operation  as  is  fre- 
quently found  in  other  plants.  • — 

In  three  to  four  months  time  the  learner  is  said  to 
be  at  60  to  70  per  cent  of  standard  production 
and  frequently  the  new  men  come  up  to  the  standard 
of  quantity  and  quality  of  experienced  men  within 
a  year.*-  The  training  process  was  observed  in  the 
one  case  now  going  on,  that  of  the  rather  difficult 
process  in  fine  shoemaking  of  turning  and  shaping  the 
turned  shoe  and  the  progress  of  the  learner  showed 
that  proficiency  in  this  process  could  be  attained  in 
three  to  six  months,  but  this  length  of  time  of  course 
depends  on  the  aptitude  of  the  learner. 

In  only  one  department  is  no  attempt  made  at 
special^  training.  That  is  in  producing  the  bench  or 
handmade  shoe.  There  all  workmen  are  Italians — 
craftsmen  who  learned  their  trade  presumably  by 
apprenticeship  in  their  native  land  and  it  would  seem 
that  apprenticeship  either  in  the  plant  or  as  at  pres- 
ent by  hiring  those  who  have  previously  learned  their 
trade  elsewhere  would  be  the  only  means  for  recruit- 
ing this  force.  About  5  per  cent  of  production  is 
on  this  basis,  a  proportion  much  larger  than  of  the 
industry  in  general  in  this  country  where  machine 
production  has  practically  displaced  handicraft- 
manship. 

Owing  to  the  disappearance  of  labor  unrest  which 
the  service  manager  attributes  in  large  measure  to 
the  two  means  of  training  outlined — that  for  the  fore- 
men and  for  beginners,  the  latter  by  intensive  train- 


PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  SPECIAL  TRAINING     199 

ing  as  described  has  practically  been  discontinued,  an 
eventuality  which  may  be  expected  to  ensue  in  the 
smaller  plant  where  conditions  do  not  warrant  ex- 
pansion. 

It  may  also  be  mentioned  that  the  service  manager 
assists  and  encourages  adoption  of  American  citizen- 
ship. No  classes  are  conducted  either  in  English  or 
for  civic  training  in  the  plant  though  the  cooperation 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  enlisted 
to  this  end  and  assistance  is  given  to  those  who  desire 
to  secure  either  the  first  or  second  papers  needed  for 
this  purpose. 

No.  32 
THE  SPERRY  GYROSCOPE  Co.,  BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

*  The  Sperry  Gyroscope  Company  has  a  splendid 
new  machine  shop  plant  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn  em- 
ploying in  the  neighborhood  of  a  thousand  men. 
Their  products  are  the  Gyro  Compass,  a  special  type 
of  search  light,  gun  fire  controLinatruments,  and  radio 
apparatus,  though  chiefly  the  Gyro  Compass  for 
whose  production  the  plant  was  primarily  established. 

A  special  training  department  has  been  established 
under  the  administration  of  the  employment  depart- 
ment with  an  experienced  mechanic  in  charge.  Equip- 
ment is  provided  for  training  fifteen  to  twenty  men  at 
a  time.  This  consists  of  the  usual  machine  shop  tools 
with  space  and  provision  for  bench  work  and  assem- 
bling and  some  tool  making  practice.  Several  skilled 
workmen  are  also  employed  in  the  department  to 
work  alongside  of  the  men  in  training  and  to  assist  in 

*  Ref.:  Industrial  Management,  Aug.,  1919,  Vol.  LVIII,  pp.  100-103. 


200  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

their  instruction.  This  department  is  intended  to 
serve  two  purposes:  (1)  as  a  "  vestibule  school" 
chiefly  at  times  when  considerable  additions  are  being 
made  to  the  company's  force  and  (2)  for  " upgrading" 
of  selected  employees  during  normal  or  slack  periods. 

Vestibule  School.— As  a  "  Vestibule  School  "  it 
offers  an  opportunity  to  try  out  the  fitness  of  men 
seeking  positions  and  to  give  them  a  brief  initial 
training  in  the  practices  peculiar  to  this  plant.  Upon 
this  basis  a  workman  ordinarily  remains  from  only  a 
few  days  to  several  weeks.  He  is  then  either  rejected 
as  unsuited  to  the  requirements  of  the  plant  or  if  sat- 
isfactory transferred  to  regular  production.  It_ja. 
apparent  that  such  a  practice  relieves  the  production 
department  of  the  trouble  of  testing  the  qualifications 
for  a  new  employee  and  of  supervising  his  initiation 
into  the  special  methods  utilized  by  this  company. 

Upgrading  School. — At  the  time  of  the  investiga- 
tion the  second  purpose,  however,  of  upgrading  was 
being  stressed.  The  men  were  detailed  for  a  fifteen 
months'  course  and  were  receiving  pay  at  approxi- 
mately 80  per  cent  of  production  ratings.  Several 
were  at  about  third  or  fourth  year  apprentice  age  but 
most  were  somewhat  older  though  still  young  men. 
About  half  of  the  time  was  said  to  be  spent  on  jobs 
selected  particularly  for  value  in  training  and  the  rest 
of  the  time  at  small  tool  work  of  the  regular  produc.- 
tion  department.  No  organized  part-time  supple- 
mentary instruction  in  the  way  of  drafting  and  shop 
arithmetic  was  provided  by  the  company  though  of 
course  there  was  a  larger  amount  of  this  instruction 
incidental  to  the  assignment  of  jobs  than  would  be 
customary  in  regular  production. 


PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  SPECIAL  TRAINING     201 

The  cooperation  of  the  city  public  school  system, 
however,  afforded  provision  for  this  purpose.  The 
classes  were  held  in  the  nearby  vocational  school 
directly  after  work  hours  rather  than  in  the  evening, 
an  arrangement  much  more  convenient  to  the  men. 
The  following  classes  were  provided:  Industrial 
Arithmetic  with  fifteen  enrolled,  Mechanical  Drawing 
with  twenty-three,  and  Applied  Electricity  starting 
with  fifteen,  which  had  grown  to  an  attendance  of 
thirty  each  night.  Enrollment  was  not  limited  to 
those  pursuing  this  special  training  but  was  open  to 
all  employees. 

School  on  Company's  Products. — A  rather  un- 
usual school  has  been  developed  for  the  Foremen, 
Supervisors,  and  Inspectors.  One  hundred  eleven  of 
these  are  enrolled  with  meetings  held  twice  a  week 
from  4  to  5  P.M.  directly  after  work.  These  meetings 
are  given  up  to  lectures  by  representatives  of  the  en- 
gineering force  on  the  products  of  the  company, 
chiefly  the  Gyro  Compass,  a  knowledge  of  whose 
highly  intricate  construction  and  uses  is  both  inter- 
esting and  very  essential  to  those  whose  duties  con- 
sist in  the  production  and  assembling  of  the  several 
thousand  parts  involved. 

No.  33 

THE  UNITED  SHOE  MACHINERY  COMPANY, 
BEVERLY,  MASS. 

In  the  United  Shoe  Machinery  plant  are  to  be 
found  two  distinct  types  of  industrial  education  and 
training.  On  the  one  hand  we  find  the  Beverly  Inde- 
pendent Industrial  School  with  its  special  training 


202  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

department  provided  in  the  company's  plant  now 
operating  in  its  eleventh  year  and  on  the  other  a  newly 
inaugurated  intensive  training  department. 

The  Cooperative  Industrial  School. — The  Indus- 
trial School  is  included  in  this  discussion  although 
having  its  own  board  of  trustees  and  receiving  sup- 
port in  the  main  from  public  school  funds,  since  it 
functions  as  the  exact  counterpart  of  the  corporation 
apprentice  school  found  in  so  many  plants.  The 
school  is  conducted  on  the  cooperative  half-time 
principle — one-half  of  the  boys  being  in  the  school 
while  the  other  half  is  in  the  training  department  at 
the  factory  and  the  two  groups  alternating  the  fol- 
lowing and  each  successive  week. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  seventy  boys  enrolled, 
thirty-five  in  each  group.  The  school  staff  consists 
of  a  director,  two  machinist  instructors,  a  science  in- 
structor and  a  shop  foreman.  Each  machinist  in- 
structor devotes  all  his  attention  to  a  single  group, 
accompanying  it  back  and  forth  as  it  transfers  alter- 
nately from  school  to  shop  and  can  thus  effectively 
tie  up  the  instruction  in  the  school  to  the  shop  prob- 
lems that  arise  at  the  work. 

The  pay  given  the  boy  for  his  twenty-five  weeks  of 
shop-work  per  year  is  50  per  cent  of  the  standard 
piece-work  price  paid  regularly  in  the  plant.  The 
remaining  50  per  cent  is  credited  to  the  school  fund 
of  the  company  to  defray  upkeep  and  depreciation 
of  the  section  of  the  plant  turned  over  to  the  training 
department. 

Instruction  in  the  school  proper  in  addition  to  es- 
sential trade  training  and  mathematics  is  in  applied 
science,  drafting,  English  and  citizenship,  which  has 


PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  SPECIAL  TRAINING     203 

been  organized  into  a  teaching  program  to  suit  the 
needs  of  boys  whose  interests  are  primarily  industrial. 
At  the  start  a  four  years'  course  was  planned  but  ap- 
parently experience  has  shown  the  advisability  of 
transferring  to  full  time  at  the  plant  those  who  have 
attained  efficient  production,  usually  at  the  comple- 
tion of  the  second  year.  Owing,  however,  to  state 
laws  relative  to  minors  operating  power  machinery 
graduation  to  journeyman's  grade  never  takes  place 
until  the  age  of  eighteen  is  reached  no  matter  how 
capable  the  boy  may  have  become. 

In  the  last  report  published,  that  for  the  tenth 
school  year  ending  in  July,  1919,  when  the  war  may 
have  still  somewhat  adversely  disturbed  normal  con- 
ditions by  making  extraordinary  demands  for  labor 
even  though  still  immature,  the  enrollment  according 
to  ages  was  as  follows : 

14  to  15  years  of  age 0 

15  to  16   "   "   38 

16  to  17   "   "  37 

17  to  18   "   "  12 

18  to  21   "   "  11 

21  to  25   "   "  2 

Total  for  year 100 

Average  for  year 58 

The  half  earnings  for  the  year  1919  were  $4,614.47 
with  a  rate  per  hour  paid  to  the  pupil  of  $.112,  the 
actual  rate  earned  being  $.224.  Dividing  the  half 
earnings  by  the  average  enrollment  for  this  period 
(53)  we  find  that  average  yearly  earnings  of  each 
student  was  $87.06.  It  should  also  be  noted  that 
whereas  twelve  were  promoted  to  full  time  by  com- 
pleting the  course,  twenty  resigned  to  enter  upon 


204  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

regular  production  with  course  uncompleted,  sug- 
gesting that  the  institution  was  being  utilized  as  a 
kind  of  vestibule  school.  Altogether  from  the  open- 
ing of  the  school  August  2,  1909,  to  July  20,  1919,  the 
graduates  have  numbered  one  hundred,  all  being  in 
the  machinists'  trade.  It  is  also  stated  that  the  last 
seventeen  promoted  to  full  time  in  the  factory,  who 
during  their  first  year  are  transferred  about  the  plant 
for  experience  started  with  a  rating  of  55  cents  an 
hour. 

Intensive  Training. — The  Intensive  Training  de- 
partment is  newly  inaugurated  and  to  some  extent 
still  in  an  experimental  state.  It  has  a  corps  of  four 
instructors  selected  from  among  the  best  foremen  in 
the  plant  and  a  superintendent  with  a  long  practical 
and  theoretical  experience.  The  following  equipment 
is  being  used  to  capacity  to  train  recruits: 

Fourteen  Horizontal  Millers,  3  Vertical  Millers, 
10  Four-Spindle  and  Single  Spindle  Uprights,  12 
Lathes,  and  2  Plain  Grinders.  Besides  the  41  men 
thus  provided  with  a  machine  whose  operation  they 
were  learning  there  were  12  additional  men  receiv- 
ing bench  instruction,  making  53  in  all. 

The  ordinary  period  of  training  is  three  months 
though  this  is  naturally  subject  to  adjustment,  as 
obviously  the  most  skillful  would  be  promoted  to 
regular  production  whenever  a  vacancy  occurs  irre- 
spective of  length  of  training  period.  Pay  in  this 
department  is  fixed  at  fifty  cents  an  hour  irrespective 
of  amount  of  production,  and  it  was  stated  that  those 
transferred  to  regular  production  on  a  piece  work 
basis  were  having  no  difficulty  in  maintaining  a  rate 
in  excess  of  the  minimum  fixed  for  the  plant. 


PROGRAMS  EMPHASIZING  SPECIAL  TRAINING     205 

In  the  main  the  instruction  is  confined  to  teaching 
the  skill  necessary  to  successfully  operate  the  one 
machine  or  the  bench  operations  in  each  case  being 
taught.  Supplementary  to  this,  however,  either  indi- 
vidually or  in  small  groups,  the  superintendent  gives 
oral  instruction  on  the  following  topics: 

(1)  Plant  layout,  (2)  Department  location,  (3) 
Object  of  department  and  results  expected,  (4)  Com- 
pany expenses  on  equipment  and  maintenance,  (5) 
Brief  outline  of  methods  of  transportation,  (6) 
Methods  of  accounting  for  work  charged  to  depart- 
ment, (7)  Brief  outline  of  methods  of  tooling,  (8) 
Application  of  drawing  and  operation  sheet  to  work, 
(9)  Necessity  for  interest,  accuracy,  discipline,  and 
self  reliance,  (10)  Necessity  for  quality  first  and 
quantity  later,  (11)  Explanation  and  application  of 
simple  tools,  such  as  scale,  micrometer,  etc.,  (12) 
Scale  and  decimal  equivalents,  (13)  Hospital,  location 
and  purpose,  (14)  Find  out  natural  inclination  of  new 
employee.  This  brief  supplementary  instruction 
should  materially  aid  in  orienting  the  recruit  in  his 
new  environment  and  the  opportunity  offered  by  the 
separate  training  department  of  providing  this  in- 
struction is  one  of  the  strong  recommendations  for 
such  provision. 


SECTION  IV 


CHAPTER  X 

PROGRAMS  OF  PRIMARILY  TECHNICAL 
INSTRUCTION 

Two  companies  have  found  it  desirable  to  intro- 
duce primarily  technical  courses  which  bore  no  neces- 
sary relation  to  the  work  on  which  the  student  was 
employed.  In  one  case  it  was  an  electrical  cable 
company  where  it  was  believed  the  supervisory  force 
should  have  more  extensive  technical  training  than 
is  at  present  the  practice. 

The  other  is  an  isolated  machine  shop  plant  where 
the  evening  classes  provided  offer  a  diversion  as  well 
as  possible  employee  improvement. 

While  it  could  probably  be  stated  as  a  general  rule 
that  technical  instruction  only  in  a  general  way  re- 
lated to  the  present  or  anticipated  employment  of  the 
student  should  ordinarily  wisely  be  provided  by  public 
or  semi-public  educational  institutions,  local  condi- 
tions may  justify  a  company's  embarking  in  this  field 
of  instruction. 

206 


PRIMARILY   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION  207 

No.  34 
HABIRSHAW  ELECTRIC  CABLE  Co.  OF  YONKERS,  N.  Y. 

The  Habirshaw  Electric  Cable  Co.  are  manufac- 
turers of  electric  cable  of  varying  size  and  material. 
On  an  average  600  to  700  men  are  on  the  payroll. 

With  the  object  of  training  for  higher  intelligence 
in  those  to  become  foremen  and  assistant  foremen, 
the  company  has  this  year  inaugurated  a  training 
department,  the  supplementary  instruction  being  of 
the  higher  technical  sort.  While  older  men  are  at  the 
start  in  some  cases  admitted,  it  is  said  to  be  planned 
for  boys  aged  sixteen  to  nineteen  at  entrance  with  a 
starting  rate  of  34  cents  an  hour.  A  man  with  tech- 
nical training  and  some  experience  at  teaching  is  de- 
voting his  entire  time  to  the  teaching.  The  factory 
work  consists  of  the  testing,  winding  and  similar 
work  necessary  in  the  production  of  electric  cable. 
No  permanent  contract  or  apprentice  agreement  is 
required.  Classes  meet  for  one  hour  recitations  five 
days  a  week.  In  the  two  sections  at  present  organized 
26  are  enrolled. 

An  outline  of  the  course  follows: 

First  Year 

First  Term 

Algebra 2  rec. 

Trigonometry 2    " 

Correlation  Problems 1    ' ' 

Second  Term 

Geometry  (Mechanical  Analysis) 2  rec. 

Calculus 1    ' ' 

Elementary  Electricity 1    ' ' 

Correlation  Problems  (Electricity) 1  " 


208  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Third  Term 

Geometry 2  rec. 

Calculus. , 1    ' ' 

Elementary  Electricity 1    ' ' 

Correlation  Problems  (Electricity) 1    " 

Second  Year 

First  Term 

Electricity  (Generation  of  Current) . 1  rec. 

Physics  (Mechanics;  Work) 2    " 

Chemistry  (General  Chemistry) 2    " 

Second  Term 

Electricity  (Distribution  of  Current) 1  rec. 

Physics  (Liquids;  Gases;  Heat) 2    " 

Chemistry  (Chemistry  of  Metals) 2    ' ' 

Third  Term 

Electricity  (Commercial  Uses) 1  rec. 

Physics  (Sound;  Light) 2    '  * 

Chemistry  (Chemistry  of  Hydrocarbons) ....  2    " 

Third  Year 

Fust  Term 

Electrical  Wiring  and  Use  of  Cables 3  rec. 

Political  Economy 1     " 

Business  and  System 1    ' ' 

Second  Term 

Cable  Testing 3  rec. 

Political  Economy 1    ' ' 

Business  and  System 1    ' ' 

Third  Term 

Cable  Calculations,  Specifications,  Costs 3  rec. 

Political  Economy 1    ' ' 

Business  and  System 1    " 


PRIMARILY  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION  209 

No.  35 

SHEPARD  ELECTRIC  CRANE  AND  HOIST  Co., 
MONTOUR  FALLS,  N.  Y. 

The  management  of  the  Shepard  Crane  and  Hoist 
Company  believe  that  they  are  justified  in  providing 
their  own  night  school  rather  than  leaving  the  pro- 
vision to  the  public  school  authorities.  One  should 
recognize  their  position.  It  is  a  company  of  about 
700_employees,  the  only  industrial  plant  in  a  moderate 
sized  town.  The  school  authorities  had  made  no 
rnove  to  adequately  provide  the  desired  evening  classes. 
Hence  four  years  ago  the  manager  decided  that  by 
conducting  their  own  classes  the  company  could  effect- 
ively reach  a  larger  number  of  employees  and  utilize 
the  high  grade  engineering  force  employed  by  the 
company  as  instructors.  Altogether  the  desired  edu- 
cational provisions  have  been  made  at  a  very  modest 
cost,  not  more  than  $3,000  being  required  for  the  220 
students  registered  last  year.  Of  these  126  satis- 
factorily completed  their  courses.  The  classes  are 
held  two  evenings  a  week  for  about  one  hour  each 
night. 

Twenty  instructors  were  used,  their  services  being 
secured  for  the  modest  sum  of  $1  per  night.  Students 
are  required  to  make  a  deposit  of  $1  which  is  returned 
at  the  end  of  the  season  if  attendance  is  satisfactory. 

The  usual  subjects  are  provided:  Machine  Shop 
Practice,  Blue  Print  Reading,  Shop  Drawing,  Shop 
Mathematics,  Shop  Mechanics,  Machine  Design, 
Practical  Electricity,  Typewriting,  Stenography, 
Office  Training,  Cost  Accounting,  Structural  Design, 
and  Hygiene  and  Health. 


210  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

The  course  in.  Structural  Design  was  conducted  as 
a  seminar  among  the  young  engineers  in  the  company's 
employ  and  was  remarkably  successful. 

Hygiene  and  Health,  conducted  by  the  nurses  in 
the  company's  hospital,  proved  a  very  popular  course 
among  the  wives  of  the  employees.  Local  physicians 
were  enlisted  to  add  to  the  regular  course  by  special 
lectures.  This  was  conducted  in  the  afternoon  rather 
than  the  evening. 


SECTION  V 


CHAPTER  XI 
APPRENTICE  TRAINING 

Present  Scope. — Confining  our  attention  wholly 
to  the  fields  of  iron  and  steel  working,  shipbuilding 
and  the  railroad  shops,  this  study  should  effectively 
controvert  the  rather  prevalent  opinion  that  appren- 
ticeship is  wholly  dead.  We  have  found  in  twenty- 
six  manufacturing  concerns  studied,  in  most  cases, 
small  but  usually  well  organized  apprentice  depart- 
ments. It  will  be  noticed  that  the  practice  extends 
to  some  of  the  smaller  machine-tool  making  plants, 
in  some  cases  those  with  only  several  hundred  em- 
ployees. 

There  are,  of  course,  still  smaller  plants  with  only 
a  few  journeymen  where  occasionally  an  excellent  all 
around  experience  may  be  gained  by  the  one  or  two 
apprentices  employed.  The  trouble  with  these  latter 
plants  for  learning  purposes  is  that  frequently  no  one 
takes  a  personal  interest  in  the  young  man  and  every- 
thing depends  on  his  own  personal  initiative. 

211 


\ 


212  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Altogether  there  were  found  in  the  plants  visited 
or  whose  supervisors  were  interviewed,  a  total  of 
6,510  apprentices. 

It  should  be  repeated  that  this  is  by  no  means  a 
complete  survey.  In  the  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Trade  Apprenticeship  Schools  of  the  National  Associa- 
tion of  Corporation  Schools  for  1917  in  the  railroad 
shops  alone  170  apprentice  schools  were  located. 
Many  of  these,  it  is  true,  were  discontinued  during 
the  war  owing  to  the  disorganization  attendant  upon 
government  control  and  the  general  overturning  of 
conditions  favoring  apprenticeship  by  wage  abnormal- 
ities, but  which  may  now  be  expected  to  resume. 
This  report  covers  fifty  of  these  schools  in  two  rail- 
road systems  with  24)50  apprentices.  Another  rail- 
road system  reported  900  apprentices.  If  we  may 
assume  the  same  average  enrollment  of  forty  appren- 
tices per  school  in  the  total,  170  schools  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  there  would  be  6,800  apprentices 
in  these  shops  alone.  Even  if  this  figure  is  higher 
than  the  actual  situation,  it  is  a  very  modest 
estimate  of  the  normal  demand  of  the  railroad 
shops. 

While  only  four  of  the  major  electrical  plants  were 
visited,  most  of  the  other  plants  of  these  same  cor- 
porations are  committed  to  a  policy  of  apprentice 
training  which  would  account  for  several  hundred 
more  under  training. 

In  the  steel  production  industry,  however,  appren- 
ticeship seems  to  be  fostered  with  difficulty.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  number  of  skilled  artisans  is  limited. 
Those  whose  training  seems  advisedly  by  appren- 
ticeship are  confined  chiefly  to  the  small  groups  en- 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  213 

gaged  in  maintenance  work.  In  the  Carnegie  Steel 
plant  visited  here  were  70  apprentices,  another  plant 
visited  had  46  apprentices  among  a  total  of  5,000 
employees. 

The  Fore  River  Shipyard  had  243  apprentices  and 
the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  450.  In  contrast  with  these 
the  Submarine  Boat  Corporation  had  not  a  single 
apprentice.  Definite  data  have  not  been  obtained  but 
it  is  believed  that  there  are  upwards  of  1,000  appren- 
tices in  the  other  shipyards  whose  production  is  not 
confined  to  the  standardized  fabricated  ship.  In 
most  yards  each  ship  is  a  new  problem  requiring  a 
considerable  force  of  skilled  workers  in  all  the 
crafts  which  compose  the  traditional  shipbuilding 
industry. 

In  the  building  of  machine  tools  there  is  considerable 
employment  of  skilled  workers  and  therefore  the  de- 
mand for  apprenticeship.  It  is  true  that  machines 
are  becoming  more  and  more  automatic,  hence  re- 
quiring less  and  less  skilled  operatives,  but  the  more 
automatic  a  machine  is  usually  the  great  skill  is  re- 
quired in  its  design  and  initial  production  and  inciden- 
tally in  its  maintenance  recommending  apprentice 
training  for  a  limited  group  in  the  machine  tool  manu- 
facturing plant.  This  would  probably  account  for 
upwards  of  a  thousand  apprentices  in  machine  tool 
plants  unvisited. 

Altogether  then  it  is  believed  to  be  a  conservative 
estimate  that  there  are  over  10,000  apprentices  under 
well  organized  instruction  in  the  United  States  in  the 
field  covered  by  this  investigation. 

This  estimate  should  be  compared  with  the  data 
available  from  the  1910  United  States  Census: 


214  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

Apprentices  in  Iron  and  Steel  Industries:  ' 

Car  and  railroad  shops 395 

Ship  and  boat  building 576 

Iron  foundries 2,619 

Agricultural  and  implement  factories 95 

Automobile  factories 1,096 

Blast  furnaces  and  steel  rolling  mills 1,313 

Wagon  and  carriage  factories 627 

Other  iron  and  steel  factories 12,494 

19,215 

Apprentices  in  Printing  and  Publishing  estab- 
lishments    11,376 

Total  number  of  workmen  at  above  trades : 

Blacksmiths 232,957 

Machinists 460,784 

Boilermakers 44,761 

Other  iron  and  steel  workers 900,443 

Toolmakers,  diesetters  and  diesinkers 9,243 

Pattern  and  model  makers 23,006 

Compositors,  linotypers  and  typesetters 113,538 

In  considering  the  above  data  the  following  factors 
should  be  considered.  In  the  census  no  distinction 
is  made  between  the  apprentice  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  helper  and  inexperienced  machine  hand  or  opera- 
tive on  the  other.  Also  it  should  be  noted  that  there 
has  been  a  very  considerable  reorganization  of  appren- 
ticeship in  the  past  ten  years.  In  the  railroad  shops 
and  the  boat  building  industry  there  has  been  a  de- 
cided increase  in  the  number  of  apprentices.  Prob- 
ably most  of  those  in  training  as  moulders  and  black- 
smiths should  be  classed  as  helpers.  A  very  large 
number  of  those  classed  as  apprentices  in  iron  and 
steel  factories  should  probably  also  be  considered  as 
merely  inexperienced  machine  hands.  The  com- 
paratively small  number  of  tool  makers  and  pattern- 
makers should  be  contrasted  with  the  number  of 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  215 

machinists  as  the  two  former  trades  are  outstanding 
examples  where  apprenticeship  has  survived  because 
no  adequate  substitute  has  been  found. 

Approaching  the  matter  from  another  standpoint 
we  can  divide  those  employed  in  the  metal  working 
trades  under  consideration  into  four  categories : 

(1)  On  initial  production  and  toolmaking. 

(2)  Piece  production  or  single  operations. 

(3)  Assembling. 

(4)  Repair  or  maintenance  work. 

(1)  If  no  new  designs  were  got  out  there  would,  of 
course,  be  no  work  for  the  patternmaker,  but  as  a 
matter  of  fact  all  larger  plants  are  constantly  remodel- 
ing their  products  in  the  keen  competition  to  pro- 
duce the  best   article  for  the  purpose.    This  requires 
the  work   of  the   patternmaker,  diemaker,  diesinker, 
etc.     The  toolmaker  is  also  constantly  in  demand  to 
provide  the  requisite  tools.     All  these  trades  are  of 
the  skilled  nature  which  we  have  come  to  associate 
with  apprentice  training. 

(2)  In  actual  quantity  production  specialization  is 
found  to  be  so  much  more  efficient  in  obtaining  both 
output  and  quality  that  all  around  training  for  stock 
production  has  practically  disappeared.     There  are 
two  types  of  workers  in  this  field,  however,  who  do 
need  the  all  around  training.     These  are  the  super- 
visory  force,  superintendent,  foreman,  sub-foreman, 
and  inspector,  and  the  substitute  man,  the  one  who 
can  fill  in  at  any  machine.     Naturally,  if  the  latter 
has  the  capacity  to  lead  he  may  be  expected  to  be 
promoted  to  the  supervisory  force  when  vacancies 
occur. 

This  category  of  piece  production  is  by  far  the  most 


216  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

numerous  of  all  and  aside  from  the  very  limited 
number  of  foremen  and  substitute  men,  just  men- 
tioned, is  ordinarily  recruited  from  the  unskilled 
group  by  being  taught  one  machine  or  process  after 
which  the  worker  is  recognized,  as  belonging  to  the 
semi-skilled  class. 

(3)  Formerly  assembling  was  considered  a  type  of 
skilled  work.     Recent  developments  in  the  way  of 
standardized  products  are  making  it  possible  to  per- 
mit this  work  to  be  performed  by  unskilled  workers 
who  are  taught  to  do  just  one  or  two  operations  when 
the  partially  completed  production  passes  on  to  an- 
other who  in  turn  adds  his  one  or  two  parts  to  the 
whole.     Of  course,  if  the  product  is  intricate  the  in- 
spector may  profit  by  the  all  around  training  pred- 
icated by  apprenticeship,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  his 
knowledge  needs  to  be  chiefly  of  the  product  inspected 
which  may  often  be  quickly  learned.     Of  course  there 
is  much  assembling  of  the  old-fashioned  type  by  build- 
ing up  the  complete  product  where  all  around  capacity 
may  seem   desirable,   and  hence   apprenticeship   be 
urged.     The  facts  are  that  the  inexperienced  starting 
at  this  type  of  work  are  usually  adults  who  perhaps 
slowly  and  clumsily  work  at  it  until  they  learn  the 
knack  of  putting  together  completed  parts  and  of 
making  the  slight  adjustments  always  necessary  at 
the  end  of  every  fabricating  process. 

(4)  Finally  there  is  the  maintenance  work  which 
in  a  large  number  of  cases  seems  to  recommend  the 
all  around  mechanic  for  whose  training  apprentice- 
ship is  usually  urged. 

As  a  whole,  then,  accepting  the  estimate  that  there 
are  approximately  ten  thousand  apprentices  in  the 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  217 

fields  investigated,  the  question  naturally  arises 
whether  this  is  ample.  Most  manufacturers  would 
answer  in  the  negative.  Usually  there  is  lamented 
the  shortage  of  toolmakers,  of  the  all-around  mechan- 
ics for  repair  work  and  of  suitable  material  for  fore- 
men. It  should  also  be  recognized  that  these  plants 
studied  are  the  outstanding  examples  of  corporations 
which  have  introduced  well-organized  apprentice 
training.  Many  of  their  competitors  make  a  prac- 
tice of  "  stealing  "  the  skilled  mechanics  they  require. 
For  example,  the  two  automobile  companies  cited 
are  among  the  few  automobile  concerns  who  have 
paid  serious  attention  to  apprentice  training  and  yet 
owing  to  their  large  amount  of  developmental  work, 
of  intricate  assembling,  and  increased  demands  for 
foremen  to  supervise  their  expanding  factories,  most 
automobile  manufacturers  could  use  a  far  larger 
number  of  apprentice  trained  mechanics. 

Trades  Affected. — It  has  just  been  estimated  that 
there  are  more  apprentices  in  the  railroad  shops  than 
in  all  other  fields.  If  we  may  assume  the  Santa  Fe 
shops  as  typical  of  railroad  shops:  Of  the  1,330  ap- 
prentices in  their  shops,  60  per  cent  are  in  the  machin- 
ist's trade,  13  per  cent  are  boilermakers,  6  per  cent 
sheet  metal  workers,  17  per  cent  carpenters,  1  per 
cent  electricians,  2  per  cent  are  blacksmiths,  and  1  per 
cent  are  painters.  In  this  list  there  are  probably  a 
larger  proportion  of  carpenters  and  painters  than  will 
be  found  in  most  shops  as  in  general  those  two  trades 
are  recruited  by  taking  on  men  as  helpers  rather  than 
as  apprentices. 

In  the  Brown  and  Sharpe  plant  which  is  to  some 
extent  typical  of  the  machine  tool  manufacturing 


218  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

establishment  of  the  200  apprentices,  75  per  cent  are 
machinists,  12  per  cent  draftsmen,  and  13  per  cent 
are  patternmakers,  moulders,  and  blacksmiths.  In 
the  smaller  apprentice  departments,  which  are  often 
maintained  largely  as  a  training  field  for  future  fore- 
men, there  is  a  preponderance  of  machinists.  In 
some  plants  requiring  work  to  precision  this  may  take 
the  form  of  toolmaking,  in  others  it  will  be  mainte- 
nance or  repair  work,  and  it  will  be  called  apprentice- 
ship in  the  machinists'  trade.  In  some  cases  both  des- 
ignations are  given  to  the  trade  taught  as  implying 
both  types  of  training. 

In  an  occasional  plant,  of  which  the  model  depart- 
ment of  the  engineering  office  of  the  Western  Electric 
is  an  example,  a  few  apprentices  are  being  trained  as 
instrument  makers.  This  is  a  refinement  and  special- 
ization to  minute  work  of  the  toolmaker's  art  and 
trade.  A  skilled  worker  in  this  field  can  usually  com- 
mand a  premium  over  other  toolmakers. 

In  the  shipbuilding  industry  the  Fore  River  Ship 
Yard  investigated  provided  training  for  fourteen 
separate  crafts.  Twenty-eight  per  cent  were  pre- 
paring to  become  inside  machinists,  which  approxi- 
mates the  trade  as  found  in  other  industries;  7  per 
cent  were  to  be  outside  or  erecting  machinists;  the 
same  percentage  were  being  trained  for  ship  fitting; 
13  per  cent  were  to  become  mold-loftsmen;  5  per  cent 
layer-outs;  2J  per  cent  blacksmiths;  9  per  cent  copper- 
smiths; 5  per  cent  electricians;  2  per  cent  shipwrights; 
4J  per  cent  joiners;  6  per  cent  patternmakers;  and 
3  per  cent  were  in  the  sheet  metal  workers'  trade. 
Temporarily,  there  were  none  training  as  boilermakers, 
though  that  was  considered  a  trade  warranting  appren- 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  219 

ticeship.  As  regards  drafting,  8  per  cent  of  the  total 
were  under  training  for  that  field.  It  was,  however, 
recognized  that  that  department  was  of  the  nature  of 
a  profession  where  high  school  graduation  should  be 
a  minimum  academic  preparation  upon  which  should 
be  built  a  broad  practical  experience  at  all  the  crafts 
involved  combined  with  a  technical  course  in  the 
mathematics  and  applied  science  required  for  adequate 
preparation. 

In  the  Navy  Yard  visited,  in  addition  to  the  trades 
already  mentioned  for  the  shipyard  there  were  ap- 
prentices enrolled  under  the  following  trade  desig- 
nations: Boatbuilders,  Chippers  and  Caulkers,  Die- 
sinkers;  Moulders,  Painters,  Plumbers,  Shipsmiths, 
and  Sailmakers.  Some  of  these  are,  of  course,  com- 
binations or  differentiations  of  the  same  trades  as 
mentioned  for  the  ship  yard  under  other  names* 
Some,  such  as  painters,  chippers  and  caulkers,  could 
also  be  prepared  for  perhaps  advisedly  by  the  inten- 
sive training  practiced  by  the  Submarine  Boat  Cor- 
poration. 

Why  Apprenticeship? — The  argument  for  appren- 
ticeship is  briefly  this.  Such  employments  as  have 
an  extended  recognized  field  of  practice  which  enlist 
the  better  grade  of  workingman,  utilizing  both  his 
technical  knowledge  and  manipulative  skill,  which 
require  an  extended  period  of  participation  for  mas- 
tery and  which  can  be  embarked  upon  in  the  simpler 
processes  by  the  immature  worker,  can  be  economic- 
ally prepared  for  by  apprenticeship.  The  pattern- 
maker's and  toolmaker's  trades  are  outstanding  ex- 
amples suggested  by  this  study.  Another  is  the  hand 
compositor's  trade  in  the  printing  industry.  There 


220  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

are,  of  course,  the  other  somewhat  similar  trades  of  the 
shipbuilding  industry  and  of  the  railroad  shops. 

In  the  Vocational  Education  Survey  of  Minneapolis* 
the  following  reasons  are  advanced  for  apprenticeship : 

"(1)  A  more  careful  selection  of  men  who  want  to  follow  the 
trade  results. 

"(2)  The  apprentice  advances  into  journeymanship  with  more 
interest  in  his  calling. 

"  (3)  The  best  time  to  get  full  knowledge  of  different  machines 
and  processes  is  while  the  learner  is  young.  With  proper  appren- 
ticeship training  the  youth  learns  best  methods  at  the  outset,  in- 
stead of  unlearning  bad  practices  later. 

"  (4)  Where  school  training  accompanies  shop  practice,  the  youth 
gains  technical  mastery  over  processes  which  would  otherwise  be 
mechanical,  and  learns  to  adapt  himself  to  changing  conditions  as 
the  untrained  machine  worker  never  can. 

"  (5)  Wider  knowledge  of  all  processes  gives  him  an  understand- 
ing, even  in  specialized  work  which  machine  hands  cannot  have. 

"  (6)  Apprentices  of  the  future,  if  some  better  method  of  teach- 
ing can  be  found,  will  be  not  only  all-around  men,  able  to  cope  with 
every  situation,  but  also  men  from  whom  the  shop  can  obtain  fore- 
men and  technicians. 

'"  Modern  industry  may  even  complete  an  organization  in  which 
all  the  work  is  done  by  machinery  made  almost  automatic  and 
operated  by  machine  hands,  but  will  always  have  a  need  of  the  men 
who  are  masters  of  its  processes  to  bind  them  all  together  and  to 
direct  the  labor  of  the  machine  worker.'  " 

Conditions    for    Good    Apprentice    Training. — It 

should  be  stated,  that  the  first  requirement  for  satis- 
factory apprentice  training  is  adequately  varied  shop 
experience  under  good  shop  instruction.  Advocates 
of  the  continuation  schools  for  trade  training  would 
frequently  have  one  believe  that  the  problem  of  in- 
struction in  the  skilled  trades  is  solved  by  the  estab- 

*No,  199  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Labor  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  p..  124, 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  221 

lishment  of  such  schools.  There  is  no  attempt  to 
belittle  the  utility  of  that  movement  in  stating  that 
the  best  of  instruction  in  such  schools  will  never  make 
efficient  mechanics  without  adequate  experience  in 
the  manipulative  phases  of  the  trade  which  under 
apprenticeship  can  only  be  obtained  in  actual  shop 
production. 

Two  methods  are  possible  for  this  shop  experience. 
One  is  to  provide  a  separate  training  shop  equipped 
with  all  the  standard  tools  of  the  trade  where  general 
experience  may  be  obtained  for  at  least  a  part  of  the 
apprenticeship.  The  other  is  to  arrange  an  orderly 
progress  through  all  the  various  types  of  employment 
at  the  trade  in  the  regular  production  shops  of  the 
plant  under  adequate  supervision  to  see  that  the  shop 
foremen  do  not  interfere  with  the  satisfactory  learn- 
ing of  the  trade  by  keeping  the  apprentice  at  jobs  un- 
profitable from  the  standpoint  of  learning  or  long 
after  the  process  or  operation  has  been  thoroughly 
learned. 

The  separate  training  shop  seems  of  particular  im- 
portance in  teaching  the  machinists'  or  toolmakers' 
trade,  though  where  there  was  good  cooperation  from 
the  production  departments  it  may  not  be  necessary. 
In  one  plant  the  apprentices  were  in  the  separate 
training  department  throughout  their  apprenticeship. 
In  other  plants  the  period  was  one  year  or  two  years 
after  which  they  were  placed  at  regular  production 
but  under  supervision  for  varied  experience. 

A  matter  of  prime  importance  is  the  quality  of  the 
apprentice  supervisor.  In  many  of  the  plants  visited 
he  had  had  technical  training  but  it  is  probably  of 
greater  importance  that  he  have  the  qualities  of  a 


222  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

good  teacher,  a  strong  human  interest  in  the  appren- 
tices, a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  trades  taught,  and 
considerable  practical  experience  in  at  least  one  of 
them  himself.  Also  he  should  have  a  personality 
which  will  secure  him  recognition  as  on  a  par  with  the 
shop  superintendents. 

Of  almost  equal  importance  is  the  quality  of  the 
shop  instructors.  It  goes  without  saying  that  they 
should  be  first  class  mechanics,  chosen  because  of 
their  liking  for  the  work  of  teaching  and  desirably 
given  some  instruction  in  their  teaching.  In  the 
Santa  Fe  shops  they  were  provided  at  the  ratio  of  one 
instructor  to  twenty-five  apprentices.  A  ratio  of  one 
to  fifteen  or  twenty  apprentices  is  sometimes  recom- 
mended. In  case  there  is  no  separate  training  de- 
partment their  position  is  usually  that  of  assistant 
foremen. 

Apprentice  School. — For  the  supplementary  in- 
struction provided  in  the  apprentice  school  there 
seems  considerable  variation  in  the  amount  of  time 
allotted.  In  some  plants  only  about  two  hours  is 
provided  per  week;  in  others  as  much  as  eight  hours 
is  given  to  it.  The  modal  seems  to  be  four  hours 
a  week. 

However,  it  would  seem  that  the  amount  should 
vary  with  the  technical  content  of  the  trade.  If  it  is 
the  tool  or  instrument  maker's  trade  six  or  eight 
hours  per  week  is  not  too  much.  If  it  is  one  of  the 
maintenance  trades  or  one  where  there  is  no  necessity 
for  acquiring  skill  in  drafting,  two  or  three  hours  per 
week  may  be  sufficient  for  the  phases  of  instruction 
directly  related  to  the  trade  in  hand. 

In  many  apprentice  schools  there  does  not  seem  to 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  223 

be  given  sufficient  attention  to  this  relating  of  the 
school  instruction  to  the  trade  involved.  In  many 
cases  all  are  given  the  same  course  no  matter  what 
their  trade  may  be.  If  only  machinists,  draftsmen 
and  patternmakers  are  concerned,  there  may  be  some 
reason  in  that  practice  as  the  instruction  should  in 
large  measure  be  similar  but  blacksmiths  and  foundry 
men  have  little  use  for  some  of  the  instruction  in 
drafting  and  advanced  mathematics  and  are  frequently 
unable  to  grasp  it  as  usually  they  are  boys  with  very 
meagre  educations.  For  them,  coupled  with  funda- 
mental trade  arithmetic,  there  are  possible  units  of 
applied  science,  iron  and  steel  metallurgy  and  the 
like  which  are  both  interesting  and  within  their  grasp 
as  explaining  phenomena  which  they  have  observed 
in  their  own  trades.  The  amount  of  this  instruction 
required  by  them,  however,  it  should  be  recognized, 
is  very  limited. 

There  is  an  opinion  among  many  supervisors  that 
there  should  be  some  instruction  in  the  civic-moral 
field  to  combat  the  present  industrial  unrest,  and  to 
prepare  the  apprentices  for  their  approaching  duties 
as  citizens,  a  matter  which  may  be  of  greater  interest 
to  them  at  the  time  of  apprenticeship  than  earlier 
when  they  were  in  public  school.  To  quote  from  the 
1920  report  on  trade  apprenticeship  of  the  National 
Association  of  Corporation  Schools: 

"A  system  for  teaching  industrial  economics  is  of  vital  impor- 
tance and  would,  if  properly  carried  out,  probably  do  more  to  create 
satisfactory  industrial  relations  than  any  other  single  subject."  * 

Of  course  the  matter  needs  to  be  handled  with  much 

*  Cf .  National  Association  of  Corporation  School.  8th  Annual 
Rept.  p.  203. 


224  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

perspicuity  as  there  would  doubtless  lurk  a  suspicion 
of  capitalistic  propaganda  in  the  minds  of  many  of  the 
boys,  if  the  instruction  were  introduced  in  a  school 
which  they  were  attending  under  compulsion  as  a 
part  of  their  apprenticeship.  It  should  be  said  that 
while  practically  no  courses  of  this  sort  were  found  in 
the  apprentice  schools  visited  the  importance  of  the 
type  of  instruction  was  generally  recognized. 

In  Industrial  Economics  the  following  program  was 
submitted  in  the  1920  Report  on  Trade  Apprentice- 
ship just  referred  to:  * 

Outline : 

1.  Stages  in  the  development  of  civilization: 

a.  Primitive 
6.  Pastoral 

c.  Agricultural 

d.  Industrial 

2.  Origin  of  capital  (story  form) 

3.  The  capitalist,  how  developed 

4.  The  worker 

5.  Ownership,  barter  or  exchange 

6.  A  medium  of  exchange  (money) 

7.  Government  (autocracy,  democracy) 

8.  Rent,  interest,  taxes 

9.  Wages  (in  primitive  society) 

10.  Increased  production 

11.  Value  (supply  and  demand) 

12.  Inventions  (factory  life) 

13.  Management  (modern  industry) 

14.  Modern  capital  (the  capitalist) 

15.  Wages  (a)  Various  theories 

(b)  Methods  of  payment 

(c)  Real,  nominal 

16.  The  corporation  (stocks,  bonds) 

17.  The  owners  (stockholders) 

18.  Employer  and  employee 

19.  Stockholders  (managers,  employes) 

*  1.  c.  U.  A.  C.  S.  8th  Ann.  Rept.  p.  214. 


APPRENTICE   TRAINING  225 

20.  Cost  of  production  (material,  wages,  rent,  interest,  insur- 

ance, taxes,  heat,  light,  depreciation,  management) 

21.  Profits  (how  figured,  how  distributed) 

22.  How  costs  are  figured 

23.  Cost  of  production  (actual  cost,  overhead,  surplus) 

24.  Methods  of  management 

25.  Distribution  (methods  of) 

26.  Banking, 

The  law  of  New  York  State,  passed  in  1919,  estab- 
lishing part  time  and  continuation  schools,  states  that 
the  courses  of  study  "  shall  include  among  other  sub- 
jects instruction  in  American  History,  the  rights  and 
obligations  of  citizenship,  industrial  history,  economics, 
the  essential  features  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  indus- 
tries taught." 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Education  of  the 
New  York  State  Federation  of  Labor  for  1919  con- 
tains the  following  item:  "  We  recommend  that 
courses  of  study  be  organized  in  history,  civics,  labor, 
health  and  compensation  laws,  and  economics,  under 
the  guidance  of  the  State  Department  of  Education. 
If  labor  is  to  intelligently  exercise  its  fullest  political 
power,  the  members  of  unions  and  other  wage  earners 
should  have  exact  and  scientific  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
jects mentioned." 

It  is  thus  seen  that  both  organized  labor  and  the 
public  education  authorities  endorse  such  instruction. 
The  citations  from  the  law  for  part-time  schools  of 
one  state  and  from  the  recommendations  of  a  com- 
mittee of  the  labor  federation  refer  primarily  to  public 
education  but  are  believed  suggestive  of  the  attitude 
of  the  public  and  hence  worthy  of  consideration  in 
planning  the  program  of  an  apprentice  school  whether 
under  public  or  private  auspices. 


226  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

In  several  corporation  schools  there  is  an  attempt 
to  rate  the  apprentice  on  his  qualities  of  character 
useful  in  his  employment.  These  are,  of  course,  but 
estimates  of  his  instructors,  supervisor  and  foremen  but 
may  be  highly  useful  in  stimulating  the  apprentice's 
recognition  of  the  relation  between  his  work  efficiency 
and  his  moral  qualities  and  to  the  management  in 
selecting  individuals  worthy  of  promotion  to  posi- 
tions of  responsibility. 

While  adequate  shop  instruction  was  urged  as  of 
prime  importance  the  related  work  of  the  apprentice 
school  is  of  sufficient  importance  to  recommend  teach- 
ers of  the  first  quality.  Ordinarily  in  the  schools  inves- 
tigated they  were  technically  trained  and  usually 
had  first  hand  experience  at  the  trades  whose  book 
phases  they  were  to  teach. 

In  the  introduction,  the  formula  E  =  M  +  (T  +  1) 
was  quoted.  In  some  cases  it  may  be  wise  to  differ- 
entiate in  the  instruction  the  "  T  "  or  elements  of 
specific  trade  technical  content  in  the  particular  trade 
from  the  "  I  "  or  those  of  general  trade  content.  At 
least  that  seems  the  practice  in  several  apprentice 
schools.  The  "  T  "  instructor  will  be  in  close  touch 
with  the  actual  work  the  apprentices  are  doing  while 
the  "  I  "  instructor  will  contribute  the  factors  of  more 
general  nature  and  common  to  all  the  trades  taught. 

In  this  practice  there  is  sometimes  urged  a  warning 
against  "  cold  storage"  *  teaching,  i.e.,  of  providing 
instruction  which  we  have  a  faith  will  sometime  be 
useful  to  the  student  but  which  has  no  immediate  ap- 
plication. There  is  much  cogency  in  the  warning  as 
there  are  apprentices  who  will  become  excellent  me- 

*  Allen,  "The  Instructor,  the  Man  and  the  Job,"  pp.  336-341. 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  227 

chanics  but  who  are  incapable  of  assimilating  instruc- 
tion beyond  that  of  immediate  application  in  their 
work.  The  solution  of  the  problem  may  be  that 
worked  out  at  the  West  Lynn  plant  of  the  General 
Electric  Company  where  an  Engineering  School  has 
been  provided  for  the  high  school  graduates  and  sim- 
pler apprentice  courses  for  those  who  have  no  aptitude 
for  the  advanced  work.  This  has  been  shown  to  have 
been  very  successful  in  training  the  more  capable 
while  offering  ample  opportunity  for  training  the 
mechanic  of  average  ability.  The  Westinghouse 
Electric  Company  provides  for  the  advanced  instruc- 
tion in  a  voluntary  evening  technical  school.  Many 
progressive  communities  provide  the  additional  op- 
portunities in  public  or  semi-public  evening  technical 
schools. 

The  practice  in  the  apprentice  departments  studied 
was  to  provide  the  class-rooms  inside  the  plant  and  as 
near  the  shop  as  possible.  It  should  be  noted  that  an 
extensive  or  expensive  equipment  is  not  absolutely 
necessary.  For  drafting  instruction  only  suitable 
drawing  space  with  materials  are  required  and  for  the 
other  classes  comfortable  seats  and  a  black-board. 
Of  course  it  probably  adds  somewhat  to  the  popularity 
of  the  apprentice  department  to  provide  the  equip- 
ment equal  in  quality  to  that  of  the  public  schools. 
In  two  plants  moving  picture  equipment  was  available 
as  used  for  the  mass  education  provided  for  all  em- 
ployees. Another  has  a  projectoscope.  The  rail- 
road shop  schools  were  stated  to  have  gathered  much 
illustrative  material.  This  additional  equipment  may 
be  justified  as  placing  the  apprentice  school  on  a  par 
with  the  public  high  school  with  which  it  must  com- 


228  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

pete  to  secure  the  better  type  of  boys  for  whom  it 
offers  equal  or  superior  opportunities  to  the  free  pub- 
lic school.  But  it  should  be  recognized  that  the  ap- 
prentice is  paying  for  all  elaborateness  of  equipment 
in  the  difference  between  the  wages  paid  to  appren- 
tices and  to  those  at  regular  production  but  with  no 
supplementary  instruction;  for  apprentice  instruc- 
tion must  in  general  be  a  profitable  venture  in  order 
to  justify  it  to  the  directors  of  an  industrial  corpora- 
tion. 

The  Apprentice  School  on  Company  or  Student's 
Time. — The  increasing  practice  seems  to  be  to  place 
the  supplementary  instruction  during  the  regular 
working  hours.  There  are  some  distinct  advantages 
in  this  practice: 

(1)  It  permits  the  full  time  utilization  of  school 
instructors  most  advantageously. 

(2)  It  lessens  the  possibility  of  overworking  the 
apprentices  by  requiring  class  attendance  after  they 
have  been  exhausted  by  their  shop  work  and  provides 
for  more  time  for  recreation  after  work  hours. 

(3)  More  is  accomplished  in  the  school  studies  if 
the  students  are  fresh  and  it  provides  a  welcome  break 
in  the  shop  work. 

It  should,  however,  be  urged  in  favor  of  the  after- 
work  school: 

(1)  There  is  less  reason  for  placing  the  school  in- 
struction during  working  hours  with  an  eight  hour  day 
than  in  the  former  nine  or  ten  hour  day.  In  one  plant 
the  shop  ceased  work  at  3.45.  It  would  be  quite  pos- 
sible there  to  provide  from  one  to  two  hours'  in- 
struction directly  after  work  and  still  give  the  appren- 
tices time  for  some  recreation.  Another  company 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  229 

where  work  ceases  at  five  provides  a  lunch  for  the 
apprentices  after  which  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes 
class  is  provided  which  permits  the  boys  to  leave  at 
6.40. 

(2)  The  after  work  school  permits  the  employment 
of  instructors  on  a  part-time  basis.     Usually  in  this 
way  members  of  the  engineering  or  drafting  staffs  or  a 
skilled  mechanic  can  be  utilized  for  the  instruction. 

(3)  There  may  be  so  much  disorganization  of  the 
work  of  the  plant  by  withdrawal  of  the  apprentices 
for  shop  instruction  that  the  manufacturer  may  pre- 
fer not  to  employ  any  apprentices  if  part-time  instruc- 
tion is  required  and  an  opportunity  of  learning  a  trade 
will  thus  be  lost  to  the  young  men  concerned. 

(4)  The  apprentice  must  expect  to  pay  by  propor- 
tionately reduced  rates  of  pay  for  his  reduced  pro- 
.duction   resulting   from   being   withdrawn   from   the 
shop  to  attend  classes,  for  the  overhead  on  his  idle 
machine,  and  for  the  attendant  disorganization  of  the 
shop.     This  disorganization  is  particularly  apparent 
when,  for  example,  an  apprentice  is  a  member  of  an 
assembling  gang. 

One  solution  of  the  problem  devised  at  the  Water- 
vliet  Arsenal  is  to  require  that  the  instruction  shall 
be  half  on  company  time  and  half  on  the  apprentice's, 
by  requiring  that  on  his  instruction  days  he  quit  at 
six  rather  than  at  five. 

As  the  disadvantages  seem  greater  when  the  ap- 
prentice is  at  regular  production  than  when  working 
in  the  training  shop  it  might  be  possible  if  a  training 
department  is  utilized  to  provide  the  school  instruction 
while  working  in  that  department  on  company  time 
and  in  the  advanced  years  when  at  regular  production 


230  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

on  the  student's  time.  This  would  lessen  the  likeli- 
hood of  over  fatiguing  the  younger  apprentices  with 
whom  there  is  doubtless  greater  danger  and  still  not 
unnecessarily  disorganize  production. 

Apprentice  School  under  Plant  Auspices  and  Pub- 
lic Part-time  School  Compared. — In  the  plants  in- 
vestigated the  apprentice  schools  provided  by  the 
company  seemed  in  general  markedly  better  than 
where  provided  by  the  public  school  authorities. 
(1)  Teachers  conversant  with  actual  shop  conditions 
were  employed.  (2)  They  could  be  enlisted  from  the 
personnel  of  the  company  or  if  employed  at  full  time, 
were  selected  for  thorough  competency.  (3)  There 
was  a  more  harmonious  working  with  the  company's 
administrative  force  and  a  greater  assurance  of  so 
arranging  the  apprentice's  employment  in  the  shops 
to  assure  optimum  learning  conditions. 

(4)  Moreover,  the  general  management  took  a 
greater  personal  interest  in  the  apprentices  which 
should  assure  their  meritorious  advancement  when 
opportunity  afforded. 

Arguments  in  favor  of  the  part-time  school  pro- 
vided at  public  expense  are: 

(1)  It  is  held  a  function  of  the  democratic  state  to 
provide,  as  one  goal  of  its  educational  program,  such 
instruction  as  will  increase  the  vocational  competency 
of  its  citizens.  (2)  The  civic-moral  instruction  de- 
sirable can  be  provided  by  the  authority  of  the  state 
presumably  neutral  as  regards  capital-labor  conflict 
without  a  suggestion  of  capitalistic  bias  accompanying 
the  corporation  school.  (3)  The  expense  of  the  in- 
struction under  corporation  auspices  is  really  borne 
by  the  apprentice  as  it  is  to  be  expected  that  appren- 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  231 

tice  training  will  be  a  profitable  enterprise  and  the 
manufacturer  passes  on  the  cost  of  instruction  to  the 
apprentice  by  reduced  rates  of  pay.  (4)  In  the 
smaller  plants  there  are  no  facilities  for  instruction  in 
the  way  of  a  drafting  room  and  classroom,  and  (5) 
the  small  number  of  apprentices  does  not  warrant 
the  employment  of  an  instructor,  or  (6)  to  properly 
supervise  his  instruction. 

The  Plant  School  vs.  the  Continuation  Class  in  a 
Public  School. — Somewhat  the  same  discussion  recom- 
mends the  class  rooms  as  conveniently  accessible  to 
the  shops  as  possible  inside  the  plant. 

(1)  There  is  little  loss  of  time  in  passing  from  shop 
to  school  and  no  necessity  is  felt  for  changing  from 
work  to  street  clothes. 

(2)  There  is  greater  coordination  of  school  with 
shop  instruction  and  a  single  supervisor  may  direct 
both  types  of  instruction. 

(3)  In  some  cases  it  may  permit  the  employment  of 
the  same  instructor  for  both  the  shop  and  school. 
This  practice  was  noted  in  the  shipyard  investigated. 

If,  however,  the  plant  has  no  available  space  or  is 
hostile  to  supplementary  instruction  and  unwilling  to 
provide  it,  the  public  school  may  be  utilized.  This 
is,  of  course,  recommended  where  there  are  too  few  / 
apprentices  in  one  plant  to  form  a  class  or  to  differ- 
entiate the  apprentices  into  classes  suited  to  their 
varied  attainments.  In  most  cases  under  these 
circumstances  one  or  two  half  days  are  taken  for  the 
instruction. 

When  after-work  instruction  is  provided  one  plant 
had  arranged  that  the  classes  come  directly  at  the 
close  of  work  rather  than  in  the  evening.  This  prac- 


232  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

tice  is  recommended  when  some  or  all  of  the  appren- 
tices live  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  plant. 

Indentures  or  Apprentice  Contracts. — Where  well 
organized  apprenticeship  is  practiced  the  usual  pro- 
cedure is  to  execute  an  indenture  stating  the  condi- 
tions of  apprenticeship  as  to  length  of  service,  varie- 
ties of  experience  provided,  amount  of  supplementary 
instruction,  and  rates  of  pay.  While  there  is  usually 
a  clause  relieving  the  corporation  from  full  responsi- 
bility to  execute  all  provisions  and  even  to  suspend  or 
totally  terminate  the  contract  should  commercial 
conditions  necessitate  such  action,  observation  of  the 
workings  of  apprenticeship  with  and  without  contract 
leads  the  author  to  believe  that  the  good  faith  of  a 
responsible  corporation  is  thereby  enlisted  to  insure 
the  satisfactory  instruction  of  the  apprentice. 

It  is  believed  also  to  act  as  a  moral  restraint  upon  the 
apprentice  against  terminating  the  training  program 
under  temporary  dissatisfaction  with  some  instructor, 
a  foreman,  or  certain  phases  of  the  work.  The  parent, 
both  parents,  or  in  case  of  their  decease,  the  appren- 
tice's guardian,  is  ordinarily  made  a  party  to  the  con- 
tract. While  modern  social  phenomena  suggest  that 
the  influence  of  parental  authority  is  much  less  effect- 
ive during  adolescence  under  modern  industrial  con- 
ditions than  was  the  case  in  a  more  primitive  and 
stable  social  organization  the  practice  would  seem  to 
have  in  many  cases  a  wholesome  effect. 

In  the  state  of  Wisconsin  the  contract  is  under  the 
supervision  of  the  State  Industrial  Commission. 
Such  a  disinterested  authority  may  be  highly  useful 
in  insuring  the  satisfactory  working  of  the  indenture 
plan. 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  233 

It  should  be  stated  that  the  control  of  an  appren- 
tice agreement  is  chiefly  moral  and  not  ordinarily 
enforced  by  legal  measures  as  the  attitude  of  the 
company  is  ordinarily  that  if  an  apprentice  breaks 
his  contract  he  is  lacking  in  the  moral  qualities  which 
they  desire  in  the  mechanics  to  be  provided  by  the 
means.  On  the  other  hand,  the  contract  is  so  loosely 
framed  that  it  is  not  enforcible  by  legal  measures  if 
the  company  is  not  living  up  to  the  implied  terms  so 
that  the  recourse  of  the  apprentice  when  dissatisfied 
is  not  to  the  courts  but  to  withdrawal  on  his  part  and 
seeking  other  employment. 

Age  Period  of  Apprenticeship  and  Normal  Length 
of  Service. — The  general  practice  seems  to  be  to  pre- 
fer and  in  many  cases  to  limit  apprenticeship  for  those 
with  an  elementary  education  to  boys  sixteen  to  eigh- 
teen years  of  age  at  commencement  with  a  four  year 
period  of  service.  For  high  school  graduates  and  in 
certain  trades  requiring  mature  strength  the  period 
is  ordinarily  three  years  in  length  and  the  age  of  en- 
trance eighteen  or  over. 

The  arguments  adduced  are  that  state  laws  relative 
to  the  employment  of  minors  do  not  permit  the  em- 
ployment of  boys  under  sixteen  in  the  handling  of 
machinery  and  it  is  desirable  to  commence  the  ap- 
prenticeship directly  upon  leaving  the  public  school  as 
the  boy  under  those  conditions  has  not  lost  the  habits 
of  study  and  of  regularity  and  punctuality  to  which 
the  school  has  accustomed  him  by  a  period  of  shifting 
in  the  more  or  less  irresponsible  casual  employment 
open  to  juveniles. 

For  the  machinists,  patternmakers,  and  most  of  the 
trades  of  the  railroad  shops  and  shipyards  also,  the 


234  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

work  is  not  too  heavy  or  exacting  for  these  immature 
workers.  That  the  course  should  be  four  years  in 
length  for  the  sixteen  year  old  upon  entrance  arises 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  not  desirable  to  promote  to 
journeyman's  wages  and  responsibilities  those  less 
mature  than  the  journeyman  who  has  attained  his 
majority.  Moreover,  there  is  sufficient  content  in 
the  trades  considered  both  of  manipulative  skill  and  of 
related  technical  knowledge,  if  imparted  upon  the 
desirable  part-time  basis,  to  require  the  full  four  years. 

Sometimes  the  period  of  apprenticeship  is  shortened 
several  months  as  a  reward  for  unusual  capacity  and 
competency.  This  is  a  practice  which  seems  desir- 
able as  an  encouragement  to  effort  and  offers  no  radical 
departure  from  the  standard  policy.  For  high  school 
graduates  the  age  minimum  of  eighteen  is  established 
in  general  by  the  fact  that  such  a  course  cannot  be 
completed  before  reaching  that  age  and  the  three 
year  apprentice  period  is  justified  by  the  same  argu- 
ments that  recommend  the  four  year  course  for  gram- 
mar school  graduates. 

It  seems  unfortunate  that  statutory  prohibitions 
as  to  the  employment  of  minors  in  some  states  pre- 
vent the  employment  of  apprentices  under  eighteen 
years  of  age  as  these  limitations  have  prevented  the 
normal  development  of  apprenticeship  in  the  trades 
where  the  sixteen  year  old  may  safely  be  employed. 
The  chief  difficulty  is  that  in  the  initial  stages  of  learn- 
ing a  trade  the  productive  worth  of  the  apprentice 
does  not  warrant  payment  of  wages  over  about  one- 
fourth  paid  the  adult  mechanic  and  a  young  man  who 
has  reached  eighteen  is  usually  unwilling  to  forego 
the  more  attractive  wages  paid  the  operative  special- 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  235 

1st.  Moreover,  he  has  often  been  knocking  about  at 
various  juvenile  employments  for  several  years  so 
that  he  has  lost  a  desire  or  willingness  to  study,  some 
of  which  is  essential  for  the  acquisition  of  a  skilled 
trade. 

Rates  of  Pay  and  Bonuses. — Just  antedating  the 
recent  World  War  the  prevailing  rate  of  pay  for  ap- 
prentices started  at  about  twelve  cents  an  hour  for  the 
first  year  and  increased  to  about  twenty  cents  an  hour 
for  the  fourth  year  for  a  week  ranging  from  fifty  to 
sixty  hours.  It  is  now  extremely  varied  depending 
upon  locality  and  occupation  but  in  general  it  can  be 
said  to  have  increased  from  50  to  100  per  cent  or 
more,  the  improvement  being  most  apparent  in  the 
third  and  fourth  years.  The  working  week  is,  how- 
ever, shorter,  varying  from  forty-four  to  fifty  hours, 
the  week  being  longer  in  but  one  or  two  plants  visited. 
There  should  also  be  noted  the  increasing  amount  of 
company  time,  for  which  regular  pay  is  granted,  de- 
voted to  related  technical  instruction  in  the  shop 
school. 

During  the  war  there  was  much  dissatisfaction 
among  the  apprentices  with  the  fact  that  owing  to 
their  indenture  agreements  their  pay  did  not  advance 
as  rapidly  as  the  corresponding  journeymen's  wage 
and  the  increasing  cost  of  living.  A  solution,  devised 
by  the  Mergenthaler  Linotype  Company  and  stipu- 
lated in  their  "  conditions  of  apprenticeship,"  which 
may  be  expected  to  automatically  adjust  to  changing 
rates  of  pay  in  the  plant,  is  to  pay  on  the  basis  of  a 
percentage  of  the  prevailing  or  basic  hourly  rate 
fixed  for  journeymen  of  the  trade  involved.  This  is 
25  per  cent  of  the  prevailing  rate  for  the  first  six 


236  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

months  of  service;  31  per  cent  for  the  second;  37  per 
cent  for  the  third;  50  per  cent  for  the  fourth;  55  per 
cent  for  the  fifth;  60  per  cent  for  the  sixth;  75  per  cent 
for  the  seventh;  and  85  per  cent  for  the  eighth. 

One  advantage  of  such  a  variable  rate  at  the  present 
time  is  that  it  would  adjust  as  easily  to  a  decreasing 
scale  of  pay  which  may  come  in  the  next  few  years 
and  it  would  be  an  undesirable  anomaly  to  find 
apprentices  paid  during  their  fourth  year  as  much  as  or 
more  than  journeymen.  Another  practice  to  be  com- 
mended in  some  plants  is  the  payment  of  a  premium 
of  two  to  four  cents  for  superior  work  in  school 
and  shop. 

It  is  a  tradition  of  apprenticeship  that  a  bonus  is 
to  be  paid  the  apprentice  at  the  conclusion  of  his 
term  of  service.  This  sets  a  prize  on  the  completion 
of  the  course  which  has  doubtless  been  of  great  value 
in  holding  the  apprentice  particularly  toward  the  end 
of  his  apprenticeship.  The  traditional  amount  is  $25 
for  each  year  of  service,  $100  in  the  four  year  course, 
$75  in  the  three  year  course.  Many  plants  have 
found  it  advisable  to  increase  this  amount.  In  one 
case  a  second  bonus  of  $100  was  paid  if  the  apprentice 
continued  with  the  company  one  year  after  the  com- 
pletion of  his  apprenticeship  with  them.  The  com- 
pany already  referred  to  carries  the  percentage  policy 
to  this  matter  of  bonuses  as  well  and  pays  10  per  cent 
of  all  wages  received  by  him  during  his  term  of  ser- 
vice. 

Deposits. — Two  companies  required  the  deposit  of 
$25  in  one  case  and  $50  in  the  other  as  guarantee  that 
the  apprentice  would  remain  throughout  the  period 
of  apprenticeship.  It  is,  of  course,  returned  with 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  237 

interest  when  apprenticeship  is  completed.  A  com- 
pany with  a  long  tradition  for  good  apprenticeship 
may  find  that  this  works  efficiently  in  holding  their 
apprentices  through  the  course,  but  a  company  just 
embarking  upon  apprenticeship  would  probably  find 
it  undesirable  as  many  suitable  young  men  would 
hesitate  to  venture  even  $25  of  their  funds  on  an  ap- 
prentice program  of  whose  merits  they  are  uncertain. 
It  should  be  said  that  there  seems  no  tendency  to  in- 
crease the  practice  which  in  general  should  be  con- 
demned. 

Certificate  of  Apprenticeship. — The  practice  seems 
to  be  general  of  conferring  a  certificate  of  apprentice- 
ship upon  completing  the  course.  As  there  are,  how- 
ever, no  uniform  standards  its  value  depends  much  on 
the  standing  of  the  company  conferring  it,  much  as 
does  a  college  diploma.  Three  national  organizations 
have,  however,  been  active  in  promoting  more  uni- 
form requirements :  The  National  Metal  Trades  As-| 
sociation,  The  National  Industrial  Conference  Board,* 
and  National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools,  f 

The  American  Locomotive  Company,  in  addition 
to  the  usual  diploma  conferred,  issues  a  duplicate  of 
pocket  or  post  card  size  which  is  intended  to  be  a  con- 
venient means  of  establishing  the  completion  of  ap- 
prenticeship, in  seeking  a  position.  Others  issue  but- 
tons for  coat  lapel  which  are  useful  in  identifying  the 
apprentice  graduates  among  the  working  force  and 
of  course  would  be  an  equally  useful  proof  of  appren- 
tice training  in  an  employment  office  of  another  plant 
when  seeking  relocation.  In  this  connection  it  should 

*  See  Conference  Board  on  Training  of  Apprentices, 
t  N.  A.  C.  S.  all  annual  reports  on  Apprenticeship. 


238  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

be  recognized  as  valuable  experience  to  leave  the  plant 
where  the  apprenticeship  was  served  to  learn  the  prac- 
tice of  other  shops  and  in  related  industries.  It 
should  be  recognized  that,  if  all  companies  in  propor- 
tion to  their  force  in  the  skilled  trades  practiced  ap- 
prentice training,  none  would  suffer  by  this  practice. 

School  Substitutes  for  Apprenticeship. — The  Re- 
,  ,>-port  of  the  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education 
for  1919  states  the  following  enrollment  in  Smith- 
Hughes  Aided  Schools,  which  includes  the  building 
trades,  automechanics,  etc. 

Evening 42,094 

Part-time 17,276 

All-day 15,111 


74,481 

The  night  school  should  not  be  considered  as  mak- 
ing a  serious  contribution  to  the  manipulative  phases 
of  the  skilled  trades  we  have  been  considering — that 
is,  toolmaking,  diemaking  and  die  sinking,  pattern- 
making,  the  all  around  machinist  in  the  maintenance 
department,  and  the  crafts  of  the  shipyards  and  rail- 
road shops.  Assuming  that  a  workman  attended 
fifty  nights  for  two  hours  per  night  he  would  have 
put  in  at  a  maximum  one  hundred  hours,  the  equiva- 
lent of  two  weeks  in  a  shop.  This  would  be  largely 
work  of  an  exercise  sort  which  would  in  ho  sense  ap- 
proach trade  mastery.  Such  shop  work  may  func- 
tion to  some  extent  for  trade  extension  and  trade 
conversion  purposes.  Thus  it  may  be  possible  for  a 
workman  to  learn  enough  to  become  a  lathe  or  miller 
operative  and  hence  to  broaden  his  adaptability  in  a 
shop  so  that  it  is  possible  he  might  become  a  substi- 
tute hand  in  piece  production  as  already  referred  to. 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  239 

The  shop  arithmetic  and  drafting  classes  may  con- 
tribute to  the  technical  training  of  the  adult  workers 
as  trade  extension  but  all  consulted  in  the  industries 
were  agreed  that  this  should  be  considered  but  as 
crutches  to  insufficiently  prepared  mechanics. 

There  has  already  been  discussed  the  essential  con- 
ditions for  effectiveness  of  the  Part-time  schools,  to 
train  skilled  craftsmen,  which  is  varied  experience  at 
all  manipulative  phases  while  at  regular  shop  pro- 
duction. Of  course  this  amounts  to  apprenticeship 
even  though  unorganized  and  it  should  be  remarked 
that  there  has  been  established  no  authority  in  ad- 
ministration of  the  law  to  insure  such  transfer  and  it 
is  doubtful  if  there  can  be  without  cordial  cooperation 
of  a  plant's  management. 

The  All-day  Vocational  Schools  scheduled  for  the 
fourteen  to  sixteen  age  period,  if  provided  with  suffi- 
cient equipment  for  experience  at  all  operations  and 
machines  utilized  in  the  trade  and  with  a  source  of 
production  jobs  sufficient  for  experience  at  all  types 
of  practical  work  could  probably  take  the  place  of  the 
separate  training  shop  already  referred  to  as  desir- 
able for  the  first  year  or  two  of  the  apprenticeship 
course.  Those  conditions  seem  satisfactorily  met  in 
the  Trade  School  described  under  the  study  of  edu- 
cation in  the  Henry  Ford  plant.  There  all  types  of 
jobs  can  be  secured  from  the  parent  plant,  and  in 
sufficient  quantities  so  that  an  average  of  $80  per 
month  of  salable  products  is  made  by  each  of  the 
students  in  the  two-thirds  of  their  time  which  they 
are  in  the  shops.  This  permits  the  payment  of  reason- 
able apprentice  wages,  which  has  been  attempted  in 
no  public  trade  school. 


240  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

With,  however,  the  usual  inadequate  equipment  of 
the  machine  shop  and  no  attempt  at  quantity  pro- 
duction, the  ordinary  graduates  of  the  machine  shop 
departments,  if  they  finally  enter  industry,  do  so  as 
lathe  hands  or  as  other  specialists.  The  management 
of  several  companies  in  stating  their  attitude  toward 
the  vocational  school  usually  mentioned  instances 
where  graduates  admitted  that  their  experience  on 
the  miller  had  been  confined  to  cutting  a  few  teeth 
on  a  gear.  This  experience  should  be  compared 
to  the  three  months  of  continuous  practice  at  the 
milling  machine  for  adult  learners  in  the  vestibule 
school  of  a  Machinery  Company.  Furthermore, 
other  than  the  repair  and  upkeep  of  the  school  ma- 
chines there  can  be  no  experience  of  the  nature  of 
maintenance  work. 

Another  element  that  should  be  considered  relative 
to  the  vocational  school  is  that  not  sufficient  effort  is 
made  by  them  to  select  the  boy  with  superior  mechan- 
ical ability.  While  this  may  come  about  to  some  ex- 
tent through  the  working  of  the  inclinations  of  the 
boys  concerned  it  is  too  often  apparent  that  the  voca- 
tional schools  are  largely  the  dumping  ground  for  the 
less  capable.  Of  course  this  condition  is  probably  as 
it  should  be  if  the  function  of  the  vocational  school  is 
to  give  a  brief  initial  training  for  machine  shop  opera- 
tives and  other  semi-skilled  specialists.  It  should  be 
clearly  understood  also  that  no  attempt  is  here  being 
made  to  pass  upon  the  efficiency  of  the  vocational 
school  in  training  for  the  building  trades  and  the  in- 
dependent service  employments  such  as  that  of  the 
automechanic  referred  to  in  the  introduction. 

About  the  same  discussion  holds,  however,  relative 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  241 

to  the  printing  trades  as  for  metal  working.  In  large 
printing  centers  the  trade  of  the  all  around  printer  has 
ceased  to  exist  and  in  its  place  we  have  clearly  defined 
definite  trades  such  as  that  of  the  hand  compositor, 
the  linotypist,  the  pressman  and  feeder,  the  lithog- 
rapher, and  bookbinder.  Some  of  these  are  well 
adapted  to  apprentice  training  of  which  hand  com- 
positing is  an  outstanding  example.  Others  lend 
themselves  to  intensive  or  to  part-time  training  de- 
pending upon  whether  the  training  is  for  the  novice 
or  one  already  engaged  and  seeking  training  for  pro- 
motion. All  suggest  the  vocational  school  closely 
linked  to  a  friendly  large  publishing  company  or  to  a 
cooperating  group  of  associated  smaller  printing  plants 
such  as  are  partially  developed  in  Chicago  and  New 
York.* 

/fine  Cooperative  Trade  School. — The  plan  of  edu- 
cation by  which  the  student  spends  one  week  in  school 
and  one  week  in  the  shop  has  been  described  under 
the  study  of  the  educational  and  training  program  of 
the  United  Shoe  Machinery  Company.  It  is  based 
on  the  assumption  that  school  progress  and  shop 
practice  are  of  exactly  equal  importance  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  trade  involved.  The  modification 
worked  out  in  the  Ford  Trade  School  of  two  weeks  in 
the  shop  to  one  in  school  assumes  that  for  the  acqui- 
sition of  a  trade  the  shop  practice  is  the  more  impor- 
tant element  in  attaining  trade  mastery.  This  con- 
forms to  the  experience  acquired  by  the  now  long 
developed  apprentice  schools  which  have  been  studied. 
It  is  also  believed  that  a  corporation  cooperating 
in  maintaining  such  an  institution  can  afford  to 

*  Ref.:  Ind.  Ed.  Survey  of  N.  Y.  City. 


242  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

pay  the  same  piece  price  for  the  production  of  the 
training  shop  as  in  its  regular  production  depart- 
ments as  by  that  means  the  better  class  of  boys  will 
be  induced  to  take  the  course  and  the  company  will 
benefit  in  the  superior  quality  of  future  mechanics 
graduated  and  recruited  to  its  force  of  skilled 
workmen. 

It  should  be  said  for  the  cooperative  school  that 
thereby  full  time  utilization  can  be  made  of  the  ex- 
pensive equipment  of  the  training  shop.  This  is  a 
matter  of  no  mean  economic  importance  when  it  is 
considered  that  a  half  million  dollar  plant  is  necessary 
to  train  300  boys  for  the  machinists'  and  toolmakers' 
trades. 

The  Endowed  Trade  School. — In  many  of  the  larger 
cities  are  found  well  endowed  private  institutions 
usually  designated  Institutes  or  under  the  older  name 
of  Mechanics  Institutes.  These  in  some  cases  have 
made  marked  success  in  their  work,  particularly  in 
such  vocations  as  possess  large  technical  elements. 
In  the  trades  we  have  here  been  considering  they  have 
been  successful  in  providing  usually  superior  exten- 
sion instruction  in  evening  departments.  They  have 
also  been  useful  to  provide  the  promotion  training  for 
superior  young  men  who  had  already  considerable 
practical  experience  and  desired  by  a  brief  course  to 
prepare  for  advancement  or  to  develop  from  a  spe- 
cialty to  the  all  around  skill  of  the  toolmaker.  They 
would  be  probably  the  chief  reliance  for  this  purpose 
if  the  apprentice  method  completely  disappeared. 

In  some  cases  the  vocational  departments  of  Tech- 
nical High  Schools  have  approximated  this  service. 
The  unsatisfactory  condition  in  them  is  that  ordi- 


APPRENTICE  TRAINING  243 

narily  owing  to  academic  restrictions  they  have  not 
lent  themselves  to  aid  the  student  who  has  consider- 
able practical  experience  but  not  the  required  book 
instruction  laid  out  for  entrance  and  advancement. 
It  is  believed  they  would  function  more  efficiently  if 
they  were  organized  to  operate  continuously  through- 
out the  year  and  encouraged,  by  adjusting  their 
courses  for  that  purpose,  the  student  to  utilize  one 
or  two  terms  each  year  at  study  and  training  in  their 
classes  and  shops  from  the  time  when  he  graduated 
from  the  elementary  school  until  he  was  twenty  while 
he  put  the  two  or  three  other  terms  each  year  in  pro- 
ductive employment.  This  would  provide  practical 
work  in  regular  production  at  the  manipulative 
phases  of  the  trades  concerned.  This  could  also  be 
provided  on  the  cooperative  basis  of  a  week  in  school 
and  a  week  in  shop  which  is  now  being  successfully 
worked  in  some  of  them.  Their  marked  success  has, 
however,  been  in  preparing  for  the  more  technical  or 
engineering  employments  such  as  that  of  draftsman 
or  electrician  discussed  in  the  next  chapter. 

No  discussion  is  here  made  of  the  engineering  col- 
lege as  it  is  generally  recognized  that  their  field  is  prep- 
aration for  professional  engineering  and  executive 
positions. 

Correspondence  Schools. — Probably  more  men  in 
American  industry  have  gained  the  technical  phases 
of  their  trades  from  correspondence  schools  than  by 
any  other  means.  Their  text  books  are  prepared  to 
be  read  by  the  student  with  limited  knowledge  of 
mathematics  and  the  lesson  sheets  provided  permit 
study  at  any  free  time.  Moreover,  the  teaching 
manual  in  pamphlet  form  can  readily  be  carried  in 


244  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

the  pocket  and  studied  in  direct  relation  to  the  tool 
or  problem  to  be  met.  The  requirement  that  all 
problems  must  be  completely  solved  is  in  contrast  to 
the  evening  school  where  regularity  in  attendance  is 
frequently  the  only  check  on  progress  and  assimilation. 
They,  however,  lack  the  contact  of  teacher  and  pupil 
wholly  and  there  is  of  course  no  organized  method  to 
provide  the  varied  experience  desirable  in  the  manipu- 
lative phases  of  the  trades  involved.  They  should 
also  be  condemned  for  exploiting  ignorant  laborers 
who  have  been  induced  to  purchase  their  courses  by 
their  field  agents  who  have  covered  the  country  and 
painted  rosy  pictures  of  munificent  engineer's  and 
manager's  salaries  to  those  who  have  not  the  rudi- 
ments of  an  elementary  education.  This  is  of  course 
in  direct  contrast  to  the  University  of  Wisconsin  Ex- 
tension Courses  where  the  texts  have  been  admirably 
prepared  for  study  and  there  has  been  no  promotion 
among  those  incapable  of  their  use. 


CHAPTER  XII 

TRAINING  OF  TECHNICAL  MEN  IN  THE 
INDUSTRY 

IN  the  program  studies  it  was  observed  that 
various  corporations  were  making  it  a  practice  to 
recruit  high  school  graduates  and  to  train  them  for 
certain  types  of  technical  positions,  many  of  which 
might  ultimately  lead  to  promotions  ranking  as 
engineers. 

The  rather  more  frequent  practice  was  also  noted 
of  absorbing  college  men,  ordinarily  technical  gradu- 
ates, into  the  organization  under  some  supervision 
which  may  properly  be  designated  as  training. 

The  plans  investigated  may  be  reduced  to  three 
categories : 

(1)  Provision   of   both   technical   instruction   and 
practice. 

(2)  Cooperative    employment  of  engineering    stu- 
dents in  industry. 

(3)  Employment    of    technical    college    graduates 
under  supervision  for  experience  and  adjustment  to 
positions  in  the  corporation's  personnel. 

(1)  Provision  of  both  Technical  Instruction  and 
Practice. — When  any  industry  attempts  to  provide 
both  technical  instruction  and  practical  experience 
in  order  to  develop  inside  the  industry  men  for  the 
technical  departments,  there  are  ordinarily  selected 

245 


246  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

high  school  graduates  and  preferably  those  who  have 
had  a  technical  course.  As  such  they  have  had  under 
more  favorable  conditions  some  training  in  drafting, 
a  year  or  more  of  instruction  in  each  of  the  two  sciences 
most  useful  for  the  purpose,  physics  and  chemistry, 
and  probably  a  four  years'  course  of  mathematics.  It 
is  also  to  be  expected  that  they  have  had  at  least  some 
rudimentary  shop  practice.  They  are  ordinarily  then 
about  eighteen  years  of  age  and  are  willing  to  start  at 
ten  to  fifteen  dollars  a  week,  which  is  probably  all  their 
production  will  warrant  at  the  start.  It  should  be 
recognized  that  they  consider  the  training  provided  a 
large  part  of  their  remuneration.  The  usual  course 
is  three  years  in  length. 

In  one  plant  these  young  men  are  indentured  in  the 
same  manner  as  are  the  trade  apprentices  ancj  start 
with  the  latter  for  a  year  to  a  year  and  a  half  in  the 
apprentice  training  shop  to  obtain  a  varied  experience 
at  regular  machine  production.  Some  are  enrolled 
to  become  Draftsmen,  others  to  become  Electrical 
Testers,  and  there  is  a  course  scheduled  for  Technical 
Clerks  but  apparently  this  is  not  much  developed. 
Draftsmen  in  particular  should  benefit  by  the  machine- 
shop  experience  as  the  utility  of  a  tool  or  machine 
design  depends  on  its  practicality  from  the  standpoint 
of  economy  and  ease  of  production.  After  the  initial 
experience  in  the  machine-shop  training  department 
the  draftsmen  then  enter  the  drawing  office  and  the 
testers  for  the  remainder  of  their  three  years7  course 
shift  by  periods  three  to  six  months  in  length,  in  a 
regular  schedule  through  the  winding  department,  the 
drafting  office,  and  the  assembling  and  testing 
departments  for  electrical  machinery. 


TRAINING  OF  TECHNICAL  MEN  247 

In  what  is  called  the  Engineering  School,  all  receive 
about  an  hour  and  a  half  of  instruction  each  day  in 
mathematics,  mechanics,  electricity,  machine  and 
dynamo  design,  chemistry  and  metallurgy,  drafting, 
and  Business  English. 

The  success  of  the  course  is  attested  by  the  num- 
ber of  graduates  who  have  become  engineers  in  their 
fields,  tool  and  machine  designers,  testers,  draftsmen, 
or  have  been  selected  for  supervising  positions. 

Another  company  has  recently  instituted  in  its  en- 
gineering office  a  somewhat  similar  course  for  the  large 
number  of  assistants  which  can  there  be  utilized.  An 
electrical  cable  company  has  organized  during  the 
past  year  a  class  among  its  high  school  graduates  and 
others  with  sufficient  preparation  for  a  technical 
course.  One  electrical  manufacturing  company  has 
maintained  for  its  employees  a  voluntary  evening 
school  in  Fundamental  Principles  of  Engineering  dur- 
ing the  past  eighteen  years.  That  of  the  nearly  200 
graduates  about  one-half  should  already  have  reached 
responsible  technical  or  supervising  positions  suggests 
the  value  of  the  course. 

Two  companies  are  working  out  educational  pro- 
grams on  the  principle  of  alternate  weeks  at  instruc- 
tion in  a  company  school  and  at  production.  One  is 
in  a  shipyard  for  nautical  draftsmen  the  other  in  an 
important  manufacturing  plant  as  a  means  for  re- 
cruiting the  design,  sales,  and  supervisory  staffs. 

A  considerable  number  of  companies  provide  more 
or  less  formal  instruction  for  their  draftsmen  as  it  is 
readily  recognized  that  a  man's  value  in  that  field 
depends  largely  on  his  technical  and  practical  knowl- 
edge. The  latter  can  of  course  best  be  obtained  by  a 


248  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

temporary  shift  to  regular  production  and  preferably 
under  such  conditions  as  will  permit  the  greatest  pos- 
sible variety  of  useful  experiences  in  the  limited  time 
which  can  be  thus  utilized.  This  would  suggest  the 
use  of  the  shop-training  department  if  available. 

It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  number  now  under 
organized  training  on  this  basis  but  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  the  number  is  not  large.  The  largest  number  are 
probably  draftsmen  as  it  is  very  easy  to  arrange  that 
the  beginners  meet  one  or  two  of  the  older  men  for 
regular  instruction  in  useful  related  technical  subjects. 
This  is  of  course  in  addition  to  the  regular  office  super- 
vision and  in  most  cases  is  arranged  for  after  work 
periods. 

On  the  whole  the  number  is  probably  far  short  of 
present  industrial  demands  and  in  no  way  equal  to  the 
quota  of  worthy  graduates  each  year  coming  from 
the  technical  high  schools. 

It  is  a  pertinent  question  whether  a  company  can 
thus  afford  to  provide  the  supplementary  technical 
instruction  and  subject  its  production  departments  to 
the  inconveniences  of  being  troubled  to  train  for  a 
short  period  a  young  man  who  will  not  be  a  permanent 
acquisition  to  its  working  force.  Experience  seems 
to  answer  in  the  affirmative.  The  young  man  who 
at  the  start  is  more  concerned  with  getting  a  wide  ex- 
perience than  a  large  salary  will  willingly  work  for 
much  less  if  he  has  provided  for  him  a  well  laid  out 
training  program  and  he  can  probably  earn  at  varied 
production  the  relatively  small  amount  paid  him. 

It  should  be  recognized  that  design  for  each  in- 
dustry is  to  a  considerable  degree  particularized. 
The  regular  technical  school,  day  or  evening,  in  gen- 


TRAINING  OF  TECHNICAL  MEN  249 

eral  only  provides  the  fundamental  training  after 
which  there  is  often  a  considerable  amount  belonging 
to  each  individual  industry  which  can  best  be  learned 
therein.  While  it  is  possible  that  the  better  men  will 
obtain  this  information  on  their  own  initiative,  the 
special  instruction  helps  to  insure  this  result. 

In  considering  the  utilization  of  the  plan  in  a 
drafting  office  it  should,  however,  be  borne  in  mind 
that  in  many  plants  there  is  wide  fluctuation  in  the 
size  of  the  personnel.  Usually  there  will  be  a  small 
permanent  force  which  will  be  greatly  augmented  to 
get  out  some  new  designs  or  to  provide  for  an  expan- 
sion of  business.  Usually  this  demands  expedition 
which  will  only  warrant  employment  of  draftsmen 
already  competent.  Any  scheme  of  systematic  train- 
ing is  chiefly  useful  then  in  recruiting  the  permanent 
personnel,  which  would  presume  a  department  of 
some  size  in  a  plant  warranting  a  large  engineering 
office  where  design  is  a  major  interest. 

It  is  a  debatable  issue  if  the  alternate  week  plan 
where  the  company  provides  both  the  instruction 
and  the  productive  experience  will  ever  develop  to 
any  degree.  In  the  shipyard,  for  example,  it  is  open 
to  question  if  it  would  not  be  more  economical  from 
the  earning  standpoint  for  the  future  draftsman  to 
go  into  the  mold  loft  or  pattern  shop  and  work  con- 
tinuously until  he  had  attained  the  experience  con- 
sidered desirable. 

The  Corporation  Technical  Night  School.— The 
advantages  of  the  technical  night  school  for  future 
engineers  under  company  auspices  have  already  been 
suggested.  The  faculty  can  be  readily  recruited 
from  the  company's  engineering  staff,  the  instruction 


250  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

can  be  adjusted  more  readily  to  suit  the  company's 
products  and  requirements  for  future  promotions  and 
such  a  school  can  probably  be  made  to  develop  a  com- 
pany esprit  de  corps. 

That  we  do  find  company  technical  night  schools 
does  not  of  course  warrant  the  assumption  that  there 
is  no  need  of  engineering  university  extension  or  of  the 
Institutes  and  public  evening  technical  schools  which 
in  some  cities  have  proved  their  large  usefulness.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  a  major  part  of  the  technical  instruc- 
tion in  this  field  is  now  provided  by  these  institutions 
and  will  doubtless  in  the  future  in  increasing  measure 
continue  to  be  so  secured. 

One  should  not  ignore  also  the  possible  contribu- 
tions of  correspondence  instruction  in  this  field  of 
supplementation  for  work  in  the  technical  depart- 
ments. The  high  school  graduate  it  may  be  expected 
has  sufficient  educational  background  to  assimilate 
what  is  clearly  presented  in  a  book  and  if  he  has  suffi- 
cient application  to  stick  to  a  course  he  should  benefit 
thereby.  It  doubtless  assists  if  someone  in  his  de- 
partment is  delegated  to  assist  him  over  difficulties, 
offer  him  encouragement,  and  provide  recognition  for 
accomplishment.  This  is  a  proper  function  of  one 
delegated  by  the  company's  education  depart- 
ment. 

The  thorough  development  of  a  corporation  school 
in  this  field  will  probably  be  limited  to  the  larger  cor- 
porations and  in  particular  to  such  occupations  as  re- 
quire large  units  of  instruction  peculiar  to  the  industry 
or  where  public  or  endowed  educational  institutions 
are  undeveloped  or  unavailable.  Isolated  plants  be- 
long in  particular  to  this  category. 


TRAINING  OF  TECHNICAL  MEN  251 

Relation  to  Trade  Apprenticeship. — The  shop  ex- 
perience of  trade  apprenticeship  coupled  with  the 
supplementary  instruction  of  drafting  and  mechanics 
given  in  the  better  apprentice  schools  is  clearly  excel- 
lent preparation  for  work  in  design.  This  has  led  in 
some  plants  to  the  practice  of  recruiting  their  small 
drafting  departments  from  the  trade  apprentices  who 
showed  an  inclination  to  enter  that  field.  This  is 
probably  a  commendable  arrangement  if  the  small 
number  of  draftsmen  required  does  not  warrant  or- 
ganizing a  separate  training  department  for  that  field 
but  it  is  believed  that  in  general  the  preliminary  edu- 
cation presupposed  by  high  school  graduation  is  a 
desirable  prerequisite  to  drafting. 

(2)  Cooperative  Employment  of  Engineering 
Students  in  Industry. — That  engineering  students 
benefit  by  gaining  some  practical  experience  before 
completing  their  course  has  been  increasingly  recog- 
nized by  educators  in  this  field.  Commonly  it  is 
provided  by  the  student 's  securing  whatever  job  is 
obtainable  in  the  line  of  work  he  hopes  to  follow  during 
his  summer  vacations. 

There  are  several  advantages  advanced  for  this 
practice.  It  aids  him  in  deciding  whether  he  really 
has  a  taste  for  the  work  he  had  previously  contem- 
plated and  whether  he  is  at  all  suited  physically  and 
mentally  to  it.  It  helps  him  also  in  the  choice  during 
his  final  years  of  electives  which  will  best  prepare  for 
the  work  to  which  he  finds  he  is  adapted.  It  gives 
him  some  experience  at  both  the  mechanical  condi- 
tions involved  and  dealing  with  the  men  with  whom 
he  must  later  earn  his  living — with  the  rank  and  file 
and  with  foremen  and  executives. 


252  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

In  the  belief  that  this  experience  is  of  equal  im- 
portance to  the  technical  instruction  of  the  school, 
the  cooperative  method  of  engineering  school  organ- 
ization has  been  developed  at  the  University  of  Cin- 
cinnati. By  the  plan  developed  there  the  students 
are  organized  in  pairs,  each  of  which  arrange  for 
employment  in  one  of  the  cooperating  corporations. 
Thus  there  were  eighteen  employed  in  the  National 
Cash  Register  plant — nine  being  at  the  plant  while 
nine  are  studying  at  the  university.  Every  two  weeks 
the  pairs  shift  their  positions,  those  at  the  plants  re- 
turning to  the  university  and  their  alternates  taking 
their  places  at  work  in  the  industry  concerned.  The 
courses  on  this  basis  are  five  years  in  length.  If  there 
is  a  genuine  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  industry 
so  that  the  student  is  shifted  through  various  depart- 
ments and  at  such  operations  as  will  add  to  his  equip- 
ment of  skills,  he  undoubtedly  will  later  utilize  the 
training  in  his  engineering  or  supervisory  work.  The 
difference  between  this  cooperative  method  and  that 
of  utilizing  summers  is  of  course  chiefly  in  amount. 

The  other  developments  of  the  plan  are  found  in 
the  small  engineering  department  recently  established 
in  the  municipal  University  of  Akron,  where  the  prac- 
tice is  identical.  In  the  University  of  Pittsburg  engi- 
neering school  a  modified  form  is  practiced.  The 
year  is  divided  into  four  terms  corresponding  to  the 
seasons,  four  of  which  during  the  four  years'  course 
must  be  spent  in  industrial  establishments  at  practical 
employment.  In  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology  a  cooperative  plan  has  just  been  inaugu- 
rated during  the  past  year  (1919-20)  with  the  Gen- 
eral Electric  Company.  This  is  arranged  at  pres- 


TRAINING  OF  TECHNICAL  MEN  253 

ent  to  provide  for  forty  electrical  students  from 
each  class  during  their  junior,  senior  and  a  graduate 
year.  There  would  thus  be  a  maximum  of  120 
students  there  on  this  basis  or  deducting  withdrawals 
probably  not  over  a  hundred.  This  is  arranged  with 
alternate  terms  in  the  plant  and  at  the  school  of  thir- 
teen and  eleven  weeks  respectively. 

In  the  new  Harvard  Engineering  School  the  plan  is 
to  be  tried  in  the  junior  year  only. 

Consequently  there  are  probably  not  over  1,000 
students  being  trained  in  cooperative  engineering 
colleges  throughout  the  United  States  at  present. 

As  the  plan  seems  to  be  somewhat  slowly  spreading 
it  is  a  pertinent  question  if  it'  will  ever  become  the 
general  practice.  The  practical  difficulties  involved 
would  seem  to  demand  a  negative  reply.  Cincinnati 
is  at  the  center  of  a  considerable  number  of  large  in- 
dustrial plants  which  could  probably  utilize  all  that 
might  wish  to  follow  an  engineering  course  based  upon 
the  plan  in  that  institution.  The  dean  of  the  engi- 
neering school  at  Akron  reported  that  there  were 
openings  in  the  local  plants  and  engineering  fields  for 
several  times  the  present  number  of  students  upon 
that  basis  in  his  school.  There  are,  however,  large 
and  useful  engineering  schools  to  which  no  important 
industrial  plants  are  accessible,  that  of  Cornell  Uni- 
versity being  a  good  example.  In  fact  it  is  by  no 
means  clear  that  the  plan  possesses  sufficiently  greater 
merits  than  that  where  the  student  engineer  spends  his 
summer  vacations' in  industrial  work  with  the  year  or 
two  following  his  graduation,  a  matter  which  is  dis- 
cussed later. 

The  biweekly  transfers  from  school  to  plant  should 


254  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

be  compared  with  the  plan  of  alternating  by  terms. 
It  is  argued  for  the  former  that  with  the  shorter 
periods  the  student  more  closely  relates  his  shopwork 
to  his  technical  instruction  than  if  the  shopwork  ex- 
tended through  thirteen  weeks.  Also  by  the  shorter 
breaks  he  is  not  so  likely  to  lose  the  continuity  of  the 
educational  subject  matter.  The  advantages  of  the 
two  weeks'  period  over  one  week  were  on  the  other 
hand  held  to  be  that  there  was  less  lost  motion  in  re- 
adjusting from  school  to  shop  and  again  from  shop  to 
school  if  those  readjustments  occurred  only  thirteen 
times  a  year  instead  of  the  twenty-six  which  would  be 
required  with  alternating  periods  of  one  week  only. 

From  the  administrative  standpoint  there  seem  to 
be  obvious  advantages  in  the  three  months'  term  for 
the  alternating  periods. 

(1)  It  permits  the  instruction  of  the    cooperative 
students  in  the  same  classes  as  the  regular  full  time 
students  as  it  is  fairly  easy  to  revise  the  instruction 
so  as  to  divide  the  academic  year  into  three  terms 
instead  of  two,  and  to  add  a  summer  term. 

(2)  Students  may  be  placed  at  employment  several 
hundred  miles  or  more  from  the  educational  institu- 
tion.    The  desirability  of  this  has  been  pointed  out  in 
connection  with   schools  not  located  with  suitable 
plants  immediately  contiguous.     In  railroad  and  min- 
ing employment  the  desirability  is  equally  evident. 
A  mining  school  located  let  us  say  in  New  York  city 
might  find  it  desirable  to  place  some  of  its  students 
for  practice  in  Canada,  Upper  Michigan,  or  Montana. 
Railroads  should  offer  a  profitable  field  for  experience 
to  civil,  mechanical  and  doubtless  soon  for  electrical 
engineers  and  would  hesitate  to  guarantee  employ- 


TRAINING  OF  TECHNICAL  MEN  255 

ment  within  100  miles  of  the  engineering  school,  a 
distance  limitation  which  would  seem  desirable  with 
the  biweekly  schedule. 

(3)  The  term  period  obviates  the  necessity  for  ab- 
solute pairing  which  is  always  an  awkward  matter  to 
administer.     One  member  of  a  pair  may  show  ready 
adaptability  to  the  work  and  become  sufficiently  ex- 
perienced to  warrant  a  generous  increase  in  remunera- 
tion while  work  of  his  alternate  would  only  warrant 
the  payment  of  the  minimum  wage  scale.     One  alter- 
nate may  withdraw,  making  it  necessary  to  pair  an^ 
experienced  man  with  a  thoroughly  green  man. 

(4)  Three    months    is    a    reasonably    satisfactory 
period  for  a  working  unit  as  well  as  for  a  teaching 
unit.     It  is  the  period  worked  out  as  satisfactory   for 
teaching  milling  machine  operation  under  intensive 
training,  and  for  assignment  to  the  electrical  winding 
department   for   students  in  the  technical   training 
course.     It  would  probably  be  equally  suitable  for 
assignment  as  chainman  or  assistant  transitman  for  a 
civil  engineer. 

Moreover  where  a  considerable  number  of  students 
are  employed  in  the  same  plant  or  on  the  same  engi- 
neering undertaking  it  would  probably  be  possible  to 
get  them  together  occasionally,  perhaps  one  or  two 
evenings  a  week,  for  coordination  purposes  as  was  the 
case  in  the  General  Electric  plant  for  the  Institute  of 
Technology  students.  This  would  probably  be  pos- 
sible in  plants  employing  over  twenty  students  or 
where  a  like  number  were  employed  in  a  given  locality 
or  city. 

If  the  plant  had  a  man  capable  of  handling  the 
matter  in  its  educational  department  (presuming  that 


256  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

it  possesses  such  a  department)  it  would  probably  be 
in  its  interest  to  handle  the  matter  itself,  or  at  least 
in  cooperation  with  the  educational  institution.  It 
was  found  that  without  this  linking  up  of  the  student 
with  the  plant's  organization  the  work  was  in  general 
looked  upon  as  a  wholly  temporary  arrangement  to  be 
terminated  at  graduation.  Of  course  the  student 
should  be  free  to  leave  if  he  chooses  when  he  desires  but 
men  well  suited  to  the  corporation's  work  might  thus 
be  saved  as  valuable  additions  to  its  personnel.  As 
at  present  conducted  the  acceptance  of  cooperative 
students  seems  too  often  to  be  considered  as  purely  a 
concession  to  the  university  and  to  the  students  em- 
ployed with  no  accruing  benefits  to  the  corporation. 

The  conclusion  of  this  study  is  then  that  if  co- 
operative instruction  is  to  be  more  generally  adopted 
by  educational  institutions  of  university  grade,  the 
term  rather  than  the  biweekly  arrangement  will  be 
better  suited  to  the  larger  number  of  institutions. 
This  does  not,  however,  presume  that  the  Cincinnati 
plan  is  not  working  well  under  the  conditions  there 
prevailing. 

(3)  Employment  of  Technical  College  Graduates 
under  Supervision  for  Experience  and  Adjustment 
to  Positions  in  the  Corporation's  Personnel. — The 
very  extensive  employment  of  student  engineers  dur- 
ing their  summer  vacations  has  already  been  pointed 
out  as  a  desirable  rounding  out  of  the  young  engineer's 
equipment.  There  has  also  been  noted  the  very 
general  policy  on  the  part  of  the  larger  corpora- 
tions of  taking  on  a  considerable  number  of  college 
graduates  for  a  period  of  practical  experience  and  as 
a  means  for  securing  desirable  additions  to  the  com- 


TRAINING  OF  TECHNICAL  MEN  257 

pany's  personnel.  Thus  the  Westinghouse  Electric 
Company  receives  each  year  about  300  engineering 
graduates  for  a  year's  course.  The  Schenectady  plant 
of  the  General  Electric  Company  starts  approximately 
a  like  number  in  its  testing  department.  From  there 
they  are  transferred  as  required  and  as  they  show 
particular  aptitudes  and  preferences  to  the  engineer- 
ing, production  and  sales  departments.  The  Good- 
year Tire  and  Rubber  Company  has  350  college  men 
in  its  engineering  squadrons  who  are  being  shifted 
about  the  plant  by  their  squadron  plan  for  a  three 
years'  training  in  preparation  for  appointments  in 
planning,  supervising  or  sales  departments. 

When  the  training  for  these  college  men  closely 
resembles  that  provided  for  trade  apprentices  it  is 
frequently  designated  as  special  apprenticeship  and 
ordinarily  extends  through  a  two  year  period.  On 
this  basis  previous  to  the  war  a  large  number  were 
being  trained  for  the  railroad  service  by  the  Santa  Fe* 
system.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  two-year  period  a 
selected  group  from  these  special  apprentices  and  the 
regular  trade  apprentices  were  put  through  a  year's 
additional  all  around  experience  for  promotions  to 
executive  positions.  These  latter  men  were  known 
as  graduate  apprentices.  The  Packard  Motor  Car 
Company  has  about  twenty  in  training  on  the  basis  of 
special  apprenticeship  as  outlined  above.  Their  des- 
ignation is  either  that  of  Advanced  Training  for  Exec- 
utives or  for  Mechanical  Men.  Training  for  Minor 
Executives  is  the  title  given  the  course  provided  in 
some  plants.  The  Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Com- 
pany for  example  has  about  twenty  young  college 
graduates  being  shifted  about  the  plant  to  gainaknowl- 


258  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

edge  of  the  business  as  a  whole  before  being  assigned 
to  any  definite  department. 

It  would  seem  that  all  types  of  training  for  college 
graduates  in  the  plants  investigated  could  be  reduced 
to  these  four  groups,  on  either  a  productive  or  non- 
productive basis: 

(1)  Gaining  insight  into  the  business  as  a  whole. 

(2)  Employment  under  supervision  in  one  of  the 
technical  departments. 

(3)  Employment   in   the   production   department, 
sometimes  called  special  apprenticeship. 

(4)  Schools  for  salesmen. 

Instruction  on  a  Productive  Basis. — In  general  this 
training  is  on  a  productive  basis.  The  college  men 
are  required  to  punch  the  clock  with  the  other  work- 
men and  in  general  obey  the  rules  of  the  plant.  That 
it  really  means  valuable  experience  to  the  young  man 
is  probably  chiefly  dependent  on  his  own  initiative 
and  capacity  to  observe.  It  is  expected  that  he  will 
gain  under  these  uninterrupted  conditions  the  benefits 
arising  from  practical  work  that  have  been  claimed  to 
accrue  from  the  cooperative  plan  of  college  organiza- 
tion. 

Ordinarily  there  is  or  should  be  someone  to  give 
sympathetic  explanations  of  the  difficulties  met  with 
for  while  the  student  may  be  well  equipped  technically, 
in  manipulative  skills  he  may  be  not  much  better  off 
than  an  unskilled  apprentice,  for  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  a  great  deal  of  the  specialized  equipment  of  a 
plant  is  not  and  cannot  well  be  duplicated  in  the  school 
shops. 

In  some  cases  there  are  regularly  scheduled  confer- 
ences of  these  young  engineers.  These  provide  for 


TRAINING  OF  TECHNICAL  MEN  259 

an  exchange  of  ideas  on  practice  and  offer  a  conven- 
ient opportunity  for  a  superintendent  to  explain  the 
work  of  his  department  by  a  talk  or  lecture. 

The  courses  are  quite  varied  in  length.  As  has 
been  stated  those  preparing  for  employment  in  pro- 
ductive departments  and  leading  to  positions  in  the 
management  are  ordinarily  the  longest.  For  these 
two  years  is  a  common  length  of  training.  In  other 
departments  the  period  which  may  properly  be  desig- 
nated as  training  is  commonly  terminated  within  a  year 
of  enrollment.  Of  course  the  slower  men  may  serve  a 
longer  novitiate.  It  should  be  said  that  the  men  are 
under  constant  scrutiny  by  the  corporation's  officials 
and  many  are  rejected  as  unsuited  to  the  company's 
needs. 

A  new  field  which  is  enlisting  a  greater  number  of 
technically  trained  men  is  found  in  the  employment, 
training,  and  employee  service  departments  of  the 
corporation.  The  capacity  to  deal  amicably  with  the 
working  force,  select  employees  with  special  quali- 
fications suited  to  particular  jobs,  and  to  train  them 
for  these  jobs  require  special  aptitudes  and  an  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  working  conditions  in  the  plant 
and  methods  of  production  and  distribution  which 
can  probably  best  be  gained  by  actual  participation. 

Experience  also  shows  that  specific  instruction  for 
the  different  fields  in  hand  is  desirable  but  ordinarily 
the  only  provision  for  such  instruction  is  through  the 
director  of  the  department.  If  all  these  activities  are 
merged  in  the  manager  of  industrial  relations  it  would 
seem  advisable  for  such  an  individual  to  possess  proved 
educational  capacity  as  well  as  intimate  knowledge 
of  industrial  conditions. 


260  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

In  the  selling  department  there  seems  to  be  an  in- 
creasing recognition  of  the  value  of  an  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  the  raw  materials,  their  reduction  to  the 
finished  form  and  assembling  in  the  finished  products 
to  be  marketed.  This  information  in  many  plants  is 
gained  by  employment  under  frequent  transfers 
throughout  the  plant.  In  one  plant  this  experience 
seemed  best  gained  by  employment  for  about  a  year 
in  the  department  where  the  tool  to  be  distributed 
was  under  utilization  in  the  manufacture  of  the  com- 
pany's own  product.  Sometimes  this  experience 
seems  best  gained  in  the  repair  department. 

In  only  one  plant  did  the  stress  seem  to  be  laid 
alone  on  acquiring  successful  selling  methods  instead 
of  on  the  technical  and  mechanical  elements  going  into 
the  products  structure,  use  and  readjustment  when 
out  of  repair.  This  may  arise  from  the  fact  that  in 
most  of  the  products  there  was  a  highly  intricate 
construction  and  the  good  will  of  the  customer  promis- 
ing future  sales  was  best  enlisted  by  providing  him 
with  expert  technical  service  in  the  possible  economies 
to  be  derived  from  utilizing  the  product  sold  and  its 
maintenance  in  satisfactory  working  conditions. 

Training  on  a  Non-productive  Basis. — While  in 
general  as  has  been  remarked  these  technical  men  in 
training  were  employed  on  a  productive  basis,  there 
were  examples  found  of  men  learning  the  business  as 
a  whole,  or  preparing  for  a  technical  or  the  sales  de- 
partment where  no  production  was  expected  and  their 
time  was  solely  devoted  to  instruction,  observation 
under  direction,  and  occasionally  to  experimental 
investigation.  This  opportunity  is  given  for  inten- 
sive preparation  for  definite  particular  positions  and 


TRAINING  OF  TECHNICAL  MEN  261 

is  ordinarily  of  relative  short  length.  As  the  cost 
must  be  charged  to  the  general  expense  of  training, 
some  definite  objective  must  be  predicted  and  in 
the  maximum  number  of  cases  realized  in  order 
to  justify  it. 

A  good  example  of  non-productive  instruction  of 
college  men  to  learn  a  business  as  a  whole  was  found 
in  a  large  electric  lamp  works.  It  was  at  present  em- 
ploying about  7,500  of  whom  a  very  large  percentage 
were  women  specialty  operatives.  To  provide  for  an 
anticipated  expansion  thirty-five  young  college  men 
had  been  carefully  selected  and  were  being  given  daily 
instruction  with  observation  about  the  plant  in  order 
to  gain  an  insight  into  the  whole  process  of  manufac- 
ture. Had  the  work  been  of  a  nature  to  require  male 
operatives  doubtless  these  college  men  would  have 
taken  a  hand  at  the  work  themselves  but  under  the 
circumstances  this  was  naturally  inadvisable.  Later 
they  would  start  as  inspectors,  subforemen,  in  the 
planning  department,  or  at  the  other  types  of  work 
that  carry  the  rank  of  minor  executives. 

In  the  Westinghouse  Electric  Company  those  se- 
lected for  the  design  and  sales  departments  after 
several  months  of  preliminary  experience  about  the 
plant  are  in  each  case  given  a  three  months'  non- 
productive training. 

For  the  design  engineers  this  of  course  takes  the 
form  of  a  more  intimate  study  of  the  company's  prod- 
ucts than  had  been  possible  in  the  theoretical  univer- 
sity preparation  and  for  the  future  salesman  a  similar 
training  but  with  the  selling  end  in  view. 

Sales  Training. — In  general  it  should  be  said  that 
the  university  training  was  ordinarily  considered  de- 


262  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

sirable  but  by  no  means  indispensable.  The  pleasing 
personality,  address  and  the  intelligence  which  we 
associate  with  an  educated  man  which  were  considered 
essential  qualities  it  was  recognized  were  frequently 
to  be  found  in  non-college  men.  Occasionally  greater 
stress  was  placed  on  an  extended  practical  experience 
in  manufacture  or  in  one  case  on  previous  successful 
salesmanship,  presumably  gained  in  a  less  important 
line.  In  many  plants  the  chief  endeavor  seemed  to 
be  to  improve  the  quality  of  those  already  in  the  field. 
Two  methods  were  being  employed.  Short  schools 
were  being  conducted  in  which  the  technical  and  me- 
chanical phases  of  their  product  were  emphasized  and 
correspondence  courses  were  being  conducted  for  the 
men  in  the  field.  Of  course  all  companies  have  a  well- 
developed  literature  relative  to  their  products.  This 
effort  seemed  to  be  directed  chiefly  toward  the  intel- 
ligent utilization  of  this  material.  Sometimes  con- 
ferences were  held  at  the  central  plant  for  discussion 
of  selling  methods  but  in  general  such  training  was 
left  to  the  district  managers. 

General  Conclusion. — As  a  whole  it  should  be  noted 
that  the  effort  in  this  whole  field  of  training  college  men 
for  the  various  departments  of  manufacture — exec- 
utive, design,  production  and  sales  depends  on  busi- 
ness conditions.  If  there  is  a  steady  growth  of  busi- 
ness there  is  a  constant  recruiting  and  training  in 
progress.  If,  however,  the  success  of  the  company 
warrants  sudden  expansion  there  may  be  the  most 
intense  interest  and  even  lavish  expenditure.  In  a 
period  of  depression  or  decided  retrenchment  no  de- 
partment reflects  changing  conditions  more  quickly 
than  training  for  superior  positions.  Only  in  the 


TRAINING  OF  TECHNICAL  MEN  263 

sales  department  may  there  be  expected  the  same  in- 
terest to  continue  and  to  some  extent  perhaps  the 
design  department  to  overcome  the  effects  of  un- 
favorable competition. 

It  should  also  be  pointed  out  that  many  companies 
do  not  depend  much  on  college  men  as  a  source  for 
company  officials.  Many  prefer  to  promote  chiefly 
from  the  ranks  and  where  apprenticeship  survives 
frequently  graduates  of  that  department  are  given 
especial  preference.  The  more  progressive  companies 
seem  to  utilize  both  sources — promotion  from  the 
ranks  and  enlisting  of  college  men  utilizing  whichever 
source  seems  to  provide  the  best  man  for  a  particular 
position. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
SPECIAL  TRAINING 

IT  is  safe  to  say  that  the  experience  gained  in  the 
shipyards,  created  to  develop  an  American  merchant 
marine  under  stress  of  the  late  war,  has  introduced  a 
new  principle  into  American  vocational  education, 
that  of  special  training. 

The  term  means  essentially  delegating  to  individ- 
uals chosen  for  the  purpose  as  particularly  competent 
the  instruction  in  their  duties  of  new  workers  and  of 
old  workers  for  better  performance  of  their  present 
work  or  in  new  duties.  Of  course  in  certain  isolated 
fields  this  had  been  practiced  before  the  war.  The 
telephone  companies  for  example  had  long  had  their 
schools  for  operators.  The  general  applicability  of 
the  idea  had  not,  however,  been  given  much  considera- 
tion. 

It  was  the  tradition  that  every  trade  should  be 
learned  by  apprenticeship,  that  is  by  the  worker's 
starting  as  a  boy  and  working  under  the  direction  of 
an  experienced  mechanic  until  he  reached  manhood 
and  it  was  presumed  had  been  initiated  into  all  the 
"  arts  and  mysteries  of  the  craft. " 

Now  everyone  knew  that  in  only  a  few  limited 
fields  did  this  method  survive  and  those  who  did  not 
understand  that  under  present  industrial  conditions 

264 


SPECIAL  TRAINING  263 

all  around  craftsmanship  could  only  be  utilized  in  a 
few  limited  fields  expected  our  industry  to  be  beaten 
hopelessly  in  competition  for  the  world  markets.  .  In- 
stead the  amount  of  our  manufactures  had  been 
steadily  mounting  each  year. 

The  inference  is  that  in  some  way  the  workers  were 
at  least  in  part  learning  their  duties.  What  are  the 
possible  means  by  which  this  is  accomplished? 

(1)  The  "Pick-up  "  Method.— Where  this  method 
is  practiced  there  is  really  no  training  whatever.  A 
man  *  is  hired  to  do  a  certain  type  of  work  which  he 
has  never  done  before.  He  uses  what  knowledge  he 
has  gained  from  previous  employment  in  other  lines 
and  from  the  friendly  or  gruff  assistance  of  fellow 
workmen  learns  soon  sufficient  to  hold  his  job  or  is 
fired.  (It  should  be  remembered  that  fellow  workers 
are  not  paid  to  help  the  new  man  but  to  get  out  pro- 
duction.) If  the  man  is  fired,  he  may  try  another 
shop  and  even  a  third  until  he  can  hold  the  job  down. 
If  the  employment  is  dignified  with  being  designated 
as  a  trade,  this  is  called  "  stealing  a  trade."  This 
may  be  called  self-training  or  could  be  described  as 
"  training  by  absorption  "  if  there  was  really  any 
training  taking  place. 

It  should  be  recognized  that  this  method  is  expen- 
sive to  the  employing  company  for  several  reasons. 
There  is  much  spoiled  work,  sometimes  machinery  is 
broken,  accidents  are  occasioned  both  to  the  inexperi- 
enced man  and  his  fellow  workmen.  There  is  always 
an  unnecessarily  long  period  of  unprofitable  employ- 
ment of  the  machinery  involved  and  the  excessive 

*  "Man"  is  here  employed  as  generic  word  signifying  man,  woman, 
boy  or  girl. 


266  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

labor  turnover  occasioned  by  the  "  hiring  and  firing  " 
which  all  recognize  as  costly. 

(2)  Training  by  the  Foreman. — By  this  method 
the  foreman  is  expected,  in  addition  to  his  responsibil- 
ity for  getting  out  the  product,  to  train  his  new  men. 
If  he  has  a  teaching  capacity  he  personally  instructs 
them,  keeps  track  of  them,  constantly  checking  them 
up.     Now  it  should  be  recognized  that  many  fore- 
men have  been  very  successful  in  thus  training  their 
men  and  with  some  natural  aptitude  have  developed 
excellent  methods.     Probably  in  many  types  of  work 
this  will  continue  to  be  the  prevailing  method.     It 
fails  when  a  foreman  perhaps  excellent  in  other  re- 
spects is  a  total  failure  as  a  teacher  or  has  too  many 
inexperienced  men  scattered  through  his  department 
for  instructing  whom  he  has  not  sufficient  time  in 
addition  to  his  other  duties. 

This  method  can  doubtlessly  frequently  be  made  to 
function  more  efficiently  if  the  foreman  is  taught  how 
to  teach  his  new  men,  or  better,  if  already  overloaded 
with  responsibilities  or  unsuited  to  teaching  by  tem- 
perament or  otherwise,  is  provided  with  an  assistant 
foreman  who  has  this  instruction  of  new  men  as  a  sole 
or  chief  responsibility  for  which  he  has  been  given 
suitable  training. 

(3)  The  "Helper"  Method.— Frequently  the  un- 
skilled worker  is  put  under  the  charge  of  a  competent 
workman  and  gradually  the  new  man  with  some  as- 
sistance "  catches  on  "  to  his  duties.     The  satisfac tori- 
ness  of  this  method  is  variable.     Sometimes  the  work- 
man delegated  to  teach  the  new  man  has  no  taste  or 
capacity  for  the  teaching  job  or  through  traditions  of 
his  union  is  hostile  to  any  new  men  learning  the  trade 


SPECIAL  TRAINING  267 

or  job.  Furthermore  aside  from  spoiled  work  records 
and  of  quantity  of  production  (if  such  are  kept)  there 
is  never  any  thorough  going  test  of  the  man's  actually 
acquiring  the  trade.  He  has  worked  at  it  so  many 
months  or  years  and  is  therefore  supposed  to  be  a 
workman  of  that  much  experience.  Under  unsatis- 
factory conditions  it  of  course  degenerates  to  the 
"  pick-up  "  method  first  described. 

(4)  Special  Floor  Training. — The  fourth  plan  has 
been  described  in  part  under  the  second  method. 
When  this  method  is  in  complete  operation  certain 
skilled  workmen  are  chosen  for  the  exclusive  job  of 
instructing  the  new  men  in  their  respective  trades  or 
duties. 

They  make  an  analysis  of  all  the  operations  and 
"  special  kinks  "  that  the  workman  must  know  in 
order  to  accomplish  his  tasks  efficiently  and  reduce  it 
to  the  best  learning  order.  They  then  instruct  the 
new  men  following  this  teaching  plan  at  regular  pro- 
duction and  under  normal  working  conditions.  The 
teaching  program  is  not  considered  complete  until 
the  new  workman  demonstrates  that  he  can  produce 
to  a  certain  standard  of  quality  and  quantity.  For 
convenience  those  under  instruction  are  usually 
brought  together  in  a  group  but  otherwise  all  condi- 
tions are  those  of  regular  production.  Ordinarily 
also  by  this  plan  training  is  administered  as  a  division 
of  the  production  or  manufacturing  department  of 
the  plant. 

(5)  The  "Vestibule  School."— When  this  special 
training  is  provided  in  a  department  distinct  from 
regular  production  it  is  ordinarily  designated  a  "  vesti- 
bule school."     The  conditions  are  intended  to  be  as 


268  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

nearly  identical  with  those  described  above  under 
special  floor  training  as  possible.  There  is  the  same 
trained  competent  instructor,  the  work  is  at  regular 
production  on  jobs  requisitioned  from  the  production 
departments  and  the  output  passes  the  same  inspec- 
tions as  normal  production  with  which  it  is  then 
merged.  Moreover  the  workman  is  given  the  same 
ultimate  "  try  out "  to  establish  his  competency 
before  being  transferred  to  the  production  depart- 
ment. The  administration  of  this  plan  is  ordinarily 
under  the  employment  manager  or  the  more  compre- 
hensive department  of  industrial  relations.  There 
may,  however,  be  a  separate  coordinate  department 
of  education  and  training  in  general  charge  of  this 
and  all  other  instructional  activities. 

Eliminating  the  "  pick-up  "  and  "  helper  "  methods 
(if  without  instruction)  as  in  general  unsatisfactory 
we  haye  left  training  by  foremen,  by  instructor 
(usually  an  assistant  foreman)  in  the  shop,  and  in  a 
vestibule  school.  What  seem  to  be  the  conditions 
which  recommend  each? 

It  is  believed  from  observation  in  the  plants 
visited  that  training  in  a  large  number  of  cases  and 
particularly  for  the  simpler  operations  will  continue 
to  be  given  by  the  foreman.  This  of  course  assumes 
in  most  cases  that  it  is  more  economical  to  provide 
training  "  on  the  job  "  than  in  a  separate  training 
shop.  Several  reasons,  founded  on  observation  in 
various  types  of  plants  from  training  of  riveters 
in  shipyards  to  that  for  a  specialty  operation 
such  as  for  female  armature  coil  winders  in  an 
electrical  manufacturing  plant,  lead  to  this  con- 
clusion. « 


SPECIAL  TRAINING  269 

(1)  There  must  always  be  expected  a  very  wide 
fluctuation  in  the  number  to  be  trained.  The  extreme 
case  is  a  wholly  new  department  to  be  opened.  Ob- 
viously the  natural  place  to  provide  for  their  training 
is  in  the  shop  where  they  are  to  start  their  work  for  it 
would  be  too  slow  a  starting  process  to  build  up  the 
working  force  by  waiting  for  them  to  be  trained  in  a 
separate  vestibule  school.  Let  us  suppose  there  are 
thus  a  thousand  armature  coil  winders  to  be  trained. 
Assuming  that  the  foreman  and  assistant  foremen 
have  been  trained  in  instructing  new  workers  how  to 
do  their  work,  they  will  temporarily  add  to  their 
teaching  force  such  experienced  winders  as  can  be 
taught  how  to  teach  sufficiently  to  show  the  new 
workers  how  to  do  their  jobs  and  for  this  temporary 
employment  as  teachers  the  experienced  workers  will 
be  paid  a  special  instructor's  bonus.  Of  course  it  is 
desirable  that  this  instruction  work  should  be  under 
the  direction  of  a  supervisor  of  training  who  would 
have  worked  out  the  best  teaching  order  and  the  ele- 
ments in  the  process  to  be  emphasized  in  quickly 
bringing  the  new  workers  up  to  standard  quality  and 
quantity  of  production. 

For  normal  turnover  it  may  be  urged  that  the  sep- 
arate training  department  is  desirable.  It  is  easy  to 
figure  that  if  the  average  training  period  for  this  work  is 
one  month  and  the  average  working  period  for  the 
girls  employed  is  six  years  the  total  number  of  em- 
ployees should  be  divided  by  seventy-two  to  find  the 
average  number  to  be  in  training  at  all  times,  to  pro- 
vide for  this  normal  turnover.  Assuming  a  depart- 
ment of  1,000  girl  employees  we  should  then  expect 
to  be  training  fourteen  at  all  times.  Might  there  not 


270  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

be  provided  the  vestibule  school  to  train  these  new 
workers? 

Experience  in  training  shipyard  workers  seems  to 
argue  against  the  vestibule  school.  There  in  all  the 
yards  the  training  was  done  on  ship  material,  in  the 
shops  or  on  the  ways,  no  practice  work  being  done.  * 
Segregating  the  learners  on  a  "  school  ship  "  (essen- 
tially a  vestibule  school)  was  found  to  increase  the 
average  training  period  for  five  trades  in  several  yards 
from  25.98  days  to  44.62  days  and  to  reduce  the  num- 
ber of  learners  per  instructor  from  8.09  per  month  to 
6.26  per  month. 

"  In  explaining  why  training  on  the  school  ship  is 
less  efficient  than  that  conducted  alongside  of  regular 
gangs,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  several  training 
factors  are  violated,  f 

"(1)  The  men  are  not  trained  under  regular  work- 
ing  conditions. 

"  (2)  The  program  of  the  ship  requires  the  doing  of 
jobs  that  are  not  in  proper  sequence  for  the  learner's 
advancement. 

"(3)  Cooperation  with  the  ship  construction  de- 
partment is  usually  lacking,  causing  difficulty  in  get- 
ting material  and  tools  and  also  in  preventing  the 
trained  men  from  being  turned  over  promptly." 

Other  arguments  against  the  vestibule  school  are: 

(1)  The  production  demands  and  hence  require- 
ments for  newly  trained  workers  of  the  plant  constantly 
fluctuate.  First  there  is  a  rush  of  orders  then  a  de- 
pression in  which  there  is  not  enough  work  for  all. 
Much  production  is  seasonal,  demanding  a  large  num- 

*  "The  Training  of  Shipyard  Workers,"  p.  12. 
t  Ibid.  p.  64. 


SPECIAL  TRAINING  271 

ber  at  one  time  and  perhaps  complete  cessation  at 
another  time.  There  are  times  when  more  workers 
leave  for  personal  reasons  than  at  other  times.  In 
some  departments  winter  is  the  preferred  season  for 
work,  in  others  it  is  summer  and  the  working  force 
must  be  recruited  accordingly  by  training  new  people. 

(2)  Much  machinery  can  be  worked  economically  only 
in  conjunction  with  the  other  departments  which  in  the 
manufacturing  process  it  follows  or  precedes. 

Only  the  duplication  of  the  whole  plant  in  miniature, 
obviously  impracticable,  would  provide  the  equipment 
for  much  of  the  training. 

<3)  Much  of  the  machinery  is  too  expensive  to  be 
duplicated  for  only  occasional  use  in  training.  A 
vestibule  school  has  been  described  to  the  author  in 
which  a  milling  machine  was  being  brought  in  at  one 
door  while  a  planer  was  being  carried  out  at  another 
to  provide  training  facilities.  Had  the  training  been 
carried  on  in  the  regular  floor  all  that  trouble  and  ex- 
pense could  have  been  avoided. 

(4)  The  learning  process  is  not  completed  until 
regular  production  is  achieved  under  production  con- 
ditions. This  is  more  pertinent  when  work  has  to  be 
performed  under  difficult  or  hazardous  conditions. 
It  may  be  possible  to  start  a  ship  riveter  on  the  ground 
but  the  training  process  should  not  be  considered  com- 
plete until  the  learner  can  work  satisfactorily  on  the 
ship. 

There  are,  however,  conditions  that  seem  to  warrant 
a  vestibule  school. 

(1)  Where  the  process  is  fairly  intricate  requiring  an 
especially  skilled  instructor  it  may  be  advisable  to 
provide  a  separate  training  department.  Thus  the 


272  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

making  of  rubber  overshoes  requiring  a  set  series  of 
operations  and  a  deftness  of  handling  was  being  taught 
in  a  vestibule  school.  Operators  of  the  standard 
machine  tools  are  frequently  trained  in  a  vestibule 
school.  In  both  cases  it  might  be  possible  to  provide 
this  training  on  the  regular  production  floor,  but  as  the 
number  under  training,  however,  was  sufficiently  uni- 
form the  training  could  be  in  each  case  provided  more 
economically  by  being  grouped  in  a  separate  shop. 
It  is  thus  under  skilled  instructors  and  instruction 
probably  is  provided  more  efficiently  than  on  the  pro- 
duction floor. 

(2)  In  some  cases  a  vestibule  school  is  advisable 
in  the  case  of  women  or  minors  when  first  starting  work. 
An  excellent  case  of  this  sort  was  furnished  during  the 
war  when  women  were  introduced  into  the  machine 
shops  as  ammunition  makers.     Difficulties  were  prob- 
ably avoided  by  giving  the  women  their  initial  train- 
ing separate  from  the  male  workmen  at  regular  pro- 
duction.    Of  course  later  the  new  workers  would  have 
to  enter  the  regular  shops  but  by  that  time  the  em- 
barrassments due  to  the  novelty  of  their  situation 
would  in  large  part  have  been  overcome.     Occasion- 
ally for  the  young  workers  the  regular  shop  will  offer 
so  many  distractions  that  the  learning  process  is  un- 
necessarily slow.     Another  reason  urged  as  regards 
both  women  and  minors  is  that  they  are  often  dis- 
couraged by  then"  apparent  incapacity  to  produce  in 
comparison  with  the  experienced  worker  and  occasion- 
ally by  the  taunts  and  ridicule  of  the  latter. 

(3)  Sometimes  instruction  is  impossible  on  the  regu- 
lar production  floor.     Frequently  this  comes  from  the 
noise  often  necessarily  there  which  makes  voice  teach- 


SPECIAL  TRAINING  273 

ing  impossible  as  well  as  proving  extremely  annoying 
to  the  worker  until  the  difficulties  of  learning  are  past. 

(4)  If  in  the  future  it  should  be  found  sufficiently 
in  the  interest  of  society  to  provide  special  training 
at  public  expense  it  will  probably  be  provided  in  a 
vestibule  school.  Such  a  separate  training  depart- 
ment permits  the  exact  determination  of  cost  of  in- 
struction as  distinct  from  raw  materials,  wages  and 
overhead.  It  might  of  course  be  made  distinct  in 
control  also  from  the  parent  plant  where  it  would  re- 
ceive its  raw  materials,  sell  its  finished  products  and 
where  the  trained  workers  produced  would  be  absorbed 
as  required.  Necessarily  there  would  needs  be  much 
cooperation  as  there  must  be  a  ready  flow  of  raw  ma- 
terials and  finished  products  and  it  would  be  folly  to 
train  a  hundred  workers  where  only  twenty  were  de- 
manded. 

In  this  discussion  generally  favoring  floor  training 
not  much  distinction  has  been  made  between  training 
by  foremen  and  by  delegated  instructors.  In  fact  it 
is  not  believed  possible  in  a  general  discussion  to  ar- 
rive at  any  invariable  rule  as  to  which  practice  shall 
be  followed.  If  training  proceeds  satisfactorily  under 
the  foreman,  the  practice  should  be  continued  of  recog- 
nizing his  responsibility  for  such  training  in  addition 
to  handling  the  regular  problems  of  production.  If, 
however,  there  are  unsatisfactory  labor  conditions — 
an  unreasonably  high  labor  turnover  and  great  dis- 
parity in  production  between  various  workers — it  is 
a  reasonable  presumption  that  the  department  would 
benefit  by  improved  training  facilities. 

Functionalized  supervision  has  shown  its  utility  in 
many  industries  and  in  some  departments  of  more  in- 


274  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

dustries  where  it  is  not  practiced  in,  all  departments. 
It  is  one  of  the  phases  of  this  plan  of  organization  to 
recognize  that  training  is  a  function  of  one  foreman 
just  as  inspection  is  that  of  another  or  the  general 
progress  of  raw  material  to  finished  product  through 
the  department  is  the  responsibility  of  the  general 
foreman. 

Upgrading  or  Promotion  Training. — The  training 
so  far  discussed  has  been  for  the  large  number  of  in- 
dustrial employments  in  which  no  previous  experi- 
ence is  presupposed.  In  the  highly  differentiated 
employments  of  a  large  industry  there  are  usually 
some  occupations  for  which  training  is  practicable  for 
those  who  are  competent  at  some  lower  grade  of  em- 
ployment. It  is  also  possible  in  some  cases  to  pro- 
vide training  which  will  assist  workers  to  achieve  a 
more  satisfactory  production  either  in  quantity  or 
quality  while  still  remaining  at  the  same  employment. 
In  either  case  such  training  as  provided  may  be  desig- 
nated as  upgrading.  Where  it  leads  to  a  new  occu- 
pation or  specialization  of  the  trade  at  improved  re- 
muneration it  may  also  be  called  promotion  training. 

Floor  Upgrading. — In  some  plants  there  were  dis- 
covered plans  by  which  upgrading,  without  any  change 
of  occupation  being  contemplated,  was  provided. 
This  might  be  through  the  training  instructors  whose 
duties  were  divided  between  training  inexperienced 
workers  and  inefficient  workers  who  had  been  work- 
ing for  some  time  at  the  specialty.  It  might  be 
through  requiring  the  rate  setters  at  piece  work 
operations  to  demonstrate  the  most  efficient  methods 
of  doing  the  work  to  those  who  were  not  getting  satis- 
factory results.  Such  methods  can  usually  be  prac- 


SPECIAL  TRAINING  275 

ticed  satisfactorily  as  the  rate  setters  are  ordinarily 
the  more  capable  workers  and  are  paid  day  rather 
than  piece  rates  so  that  this  responsibility  may  be 
required  of  them  in  addition  to  their  usual  duties. 
For  satisfactory  functioning  as  instructors,  however, 
they  need  special  instruction  in  the  art  of  this  special- 
ized teaching. 

Upgrading  or  Promotion  Training  in  Special  Shops. 
— It  is  sometimes  an  economical  arrangement  to  pro- 
vide the  special  training  for  upgrading  or  promotion 
in  a  separate  shop.  Good  examples  of  this  were  found 
in  the  school  for  repairmen  in  the  National  Cash 
Register  plant  and  that  for  turret  lathe  operators  for 
customers'  employees  in  the  Gisholt  plant  and  for 
linotype  operators  in  the  Mergenthaler  Press  plant. 
One  automobile  firm  also  provided  a  similar  school  for 
garage  mechanics.  The  Sperry  Gyroscope  company 
similarly  provides  a  school  for  toolmakers. 

In  general  it  can  be  said  that  the  objective  is  very 
specific.  There  is  an  established  standard  of  work- 
manship to  be  attained.  The  primary  product  is  the 
worker  competent  to  do  a  certain  type  of  work.  De- 
pending upon  conditions  the  period  of  attendance 
may  or  may  not  be  fixed.  Where  the  employee  is  to  be 
reabsorbed  in  the  working  force  of  the  company  the 
period  is  usually  indeterminate  and  completed  when 
the  desired  efficiency  has  been  attained. 

Pay  depends  on  circumstances.  In  cases  where  a 
customer  sends  in  his  employee  for  training  the  cus- 
tomer usually  stands  the  expenses  and  wages  of  the 
employee  while  learning,  the  company  only  providing 
the  school  and  instruction  which  is  borne  as  an  ele- 
ment in  expense  of  marketing.  When  the  school  is 


276  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

provided  for  the  company's  own  employees  usually 
there  is  paid  a  flat  rate  somewhat  below  the  prevail- 
ing piece  rate  as  the  instruction  is  considered  a  part 
of  the  employee's  remuneration.  In  one  plant  this 
pay  was  stated  to  be  about  80  per  cent,  of  the  basic 
rate  for  that  particular  grade  of  employee. 

Supervisory  Training. — No  discussion  of  special 
training  would  be  complete  without  some  discussion  of 
supervisory  training  of  which  it  is  an  element  as  of 
course  a  type  of  upgrading.  Also  as  a  general  pro- 
gram of  special  training  for  all  types  of  work  must 
frequently  be  initiated  by  "  selling  "  the  idea  to  the 
supervisory  force  it  frequently  precedes  any  other 
program  of  special  training.  This  condition  arises 
from  the  hostility  which  a  foreman  entertains 
for  any  policy  which  would  seem  to  result  in  depriv- 
ing him  of  his  prerogatives.  This  has  frequently 
led  to  the  introduction  of  foreman  training  con- 
temporaneously with  supervision  on  a  functionalized 
basis. 

In  general  it  should  be  said  that  the  introduction 
of  special  training  seems  to  proceed  best  when  start- 
ing at  the  top  and  working  down  through  all  grades  to 
the  specialized  operatives.  Thus  in  several  plants 
the  special  training  program  started  with  conferences 
of  department  superintendents  in  which  the  training 
idea  was  effectively  presented.  The  meetings  were 
also  considered  valuable  as  an  opportunity  for  ex- 
change of  methods  for  employee  improvement  and 
were  conducted  by  the  director  of  training.  They 
rere  followed  by  similar  conferences  for  foremen, 
.ispectors  and  assistant  foremen  which  were  known 
as  the  foremen's  school. 


SPECIAL  TRAINING  277 

Three  types  of  supervisory  training  have  been 
found  practiced  in  American  industry  at  present: 
(1)  A  brief  extension  course;  (2)  An  extended  ex- 
tension course;  (3)  An  intensive  course  for  selected 
employees  as  a  type  of  promotion  training. 

•  (1)  A  Brief  Course  for  Foremen. — The  first  type  is 
spoken  of  as  an  extension  course  as  it  is  provided  to 
improve  men  already  thus  employed.  It  seems  to 
find  its  utility  as  an  aid  in  the  introduction  of  a  change 
in  supervisory  policy  where  the  foreman  is  thought  of 
as  a  leader  and  not  a  driver.  It  also  offers  an  op- 
portunity to  present  the  company's  policy  in  em- 
ployee control  and  for  a  general  discussion  of  all  the 
responsibilities  of  the  foremen.  This  latter  element 
seemed  particularly  pertinent  when  the  functionaliz- 
ing  of  the  foremen's  duties  was  being  introduced  into 
the  plant. 

In  one  plant  the  plan  was  to  hold  the  foremen's 
meetings  for  the  purpose  once  or  twice  a  week  for 
about  an  hour  and  a  half  each  time  through  ten  or 
fifteen  weeks.  In  another  plant  the  plan  was  to  hold 
the  meetings  daily  through  a  shorter  period  of  three  or 
four  weeks. 

(2)  An  Extended  Course  for  Foremen. — In  one  plant 
the  program  should  probably  be  thought  of  as  an 
educational  program  for  foremen.     It  starts  with  a 
discussion  of  company  policy  as  does  the  first  plan 
but  is  intended  to  proceed   through   several  years 
covering  such  topics  as  labor  psychology,  economics, 
etc.     As  it  was  found  in  but  one  plant  its  more  gen- 
eral introduction  will  probably  depend  on  its  success 
there. 

(3)  Training  for   Promotion   to   Foremanship.—lu 


278  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

metal  working  plants  a  frequent  justification  for  ap- 
prenticeship is  that  it  provides  a  source  of  superior 
workmen  from  which  foremen  and  other  supervisors 
and  even  executives  may  be  recruited.  Of  course  it 
is  true  that  training  received  by  a  young  man  before 
he  is  twenty  may  probably  only  remotely  function 
when  perhaps  after  he  reaches  thirty  he  is  selected  for 
a  foreman's  position.  It  does,  however,  provide  a 
period  of  testing  for  superior  individuals  and  those 
who  survive  stand  out  as  individuals  worthy  of  notice 
by  the  company's  management.  Also  their  varied 
experience  has  given  them  a  wider  adaptability  so 
that  they  are  selected  for  more  varied  duties  than  the 
ordinary  employee  who  can  be  relied  upon  for  but  one 
machine.  Their  varied  employment  may  have  led 
to  an  increased  interest  in  the  whole  manufacturing 
process  of  the  company  which  may  reflect  in  the  ap- 
prentice graduate's  continuing  his  education  by  read- 
ing his  trade's  journals  and  the  like,  in  short  in  his 
growing  in  all  that  pertains  to  his  type  of  work.  Also 
the  special  interest  taken  in  him  may  enlist  a  greater 
loyalty  on  his  part  to  the  company  than  that  shown 
by  the  ordinary  employees.  At  any  rate  all  connected 
with  apprentice  instruction  emphasize  this  element  of 
training  for  foremanship  as  a  justification  which  it  is 
believed  has  some  basis. 

Of  course  the  fact  that  apprentice  graduates  fre- 
quently make  good  foremen  does  not  obviate  the  de- 
sirability of  additional  training  for  their  duties  in  that 
field  should  they  be  selected  for  the  purpose,  for  it 
should  be  recognized  that  but  little  in  the  training  of 
apprentices  has  direct  bearing  on  the  responsibilities 
of  a  foreman  save  only  perhaps  that  of  training  the 


SPECIAL  TRAINING  279 

workmen  of  the  department  concerned  in  their  respect- 
ive duties.  . 

A  somewhat  similar  method  of  training  future  fore- 
men is  found  in  the  "  flying  squadrons  "  of  one  com- 
pany which  the  manager  asserts  has  been  remarkably 
successful  for  recruiting  a  supervisory  force.  As  the 
men  concerned  here  are  usually  older  the  training  in 
a  large  number  of  cases  may  just  antedate  the  time 
of  their  promotion  and  it  would  be  wholly  possible 
to  provide  definite  instruction  for  that  very  purpose. 
In  fact  most  of  the  instruction  given  for  two  hours  a 
week  throughout  three  years  seems  to  be  particularly 
suited  to  this  very  purpose.  It  is  claimed  to  have 
been  successful  at  any  rate  in  98  per  cent  of  the  cases 
where  the  subject  has  actually  completed  the  course. 

School  Substitutes  in  Special  Training  Fields. — In 
public  vocational  education  as  developed  thus  far 
there  is  little  provision  for  special  training  in  the 
various  fields  of  semi-skilled  specialties  outlined  in 
this  chapter  though  here  are  found  the  largest  number 
of  workers  in  all  manufacturing  industry.  The  only 
exceptions  are  probably  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
graduates  of  the  machine  departments  of  the  vo- 
cational schools  can  probably  usually  start  as  lathe 
hands,  drill  press  operators  or  in  the  other  machinists' 
specialties.  Also  in  the  cities  where  evening  extension 
instruction  in  the  school  shops  is  provided  such  pro- 
vision may  function  in  a  highly  useful  way  as  assist- 
ance in  upgrading. 

It  is  possible  that  provision  for  foreman  training 
will  shortly  be  made  as  it  is  evident  that  little  equip- 
ment is  needed  though  a  highly  capable  instructor  with 
much  manufacturing  experience  is  absolutely  essential 


280  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

to  insure  marked  success.  Probably  the  great  difficulty 
will  be  found  in  attracting  the  right  men  to  take  such 
a  course  as,  if  it  is  a  public  provision,  it  must  be  volun- 
tary and  limited  to  foremen  and  such  competent 
workmen  as  are  capable  of  handling  a  more  responsi- 
ble position  than  that  of  their  present  employment. 

The  difficulties  to  be  met  with  in  the  general  utili- 
zation of  a  vestibule  school  as  training  for  all  types 
of  specialty  production  apply  with  equal  force  if  we 
consider  the  provision  of  public  training  schools  in 
these  occupations.  There  are  also  other  difficulties 
such  as  efficient  business  administration  and  the  as- 
surance that  those  trained  will  find  immediate  em- 
ployment. Also  there  is  to  be  expected  the  opposi- 
tion of  labor  organizations  who  may  be  apprehensive 
that  the  training  of  young  workers  for  their  occupa- 
tions will  multiply  the  number  of  workers  in  their 
field  until  employment  will  be  less  regular  and  wages 
reduced.  The  logical  means  for  meeting  this  oppo- 
sition is  to  confine  training  to  those  actually  engaged 
for  vacant  positions.  Training  for  upgrading  pur- 
poses is  so  clearly  in  the  interest  of  the  workers  con- 
cerned and  of  the  general  public  in  providing  for  more 
economical  production  by  more  efficient  workers  that 
it  should  undoubtedly  more  generally  be  aided  by 
public  financial  aid. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

TECHNICAL  AND  GENERAL  INSTRUCTION 
FOR  EMPLOYEE  IMPROVEMENT 

THERE  are  several  forms  of  more  general  education 
upon  which  corporations  frequently  embark  which 
are  worthy  of  some  attention.  Among  these  are: 
(1)  English  and  civic  instruction;  (2)  Health  and 
accident  prevention  instruction;  (3)  Evening  schools. 

(2)  English  and  Civic  Instruction. — During  and 
since  the  World  War  there  has  been  an  extensive 
propaganda  throughout  the  United  States  for  Ameri- 
canization of  aliens.  This  ordinarily  assumes  the  two 
forms  when  employed  labor  is  under  consideration  of 
the  teaching  of  English  and  suitable  instruction  for 
and  assistance  in  securing  American  citizenship.  The 
attention  which  has  been  given  to  this  work  of  course 
arose  through  the  apprehension  that  there  was  much 
anti-American  propaganda  being  spread  by  the  for- 
eign language  press  of  the  country  and  the  belief  with 
some  justification  that  a  non-English  speaking  work- 
man was  more  susceptible  to  Bolshevistic  agitation 
than  one  who  can  communicate  in  our  vernacular. 
It  is  also  generally  recognized  that  a  laborer  who  can 
speak  English  is  on  that  account  more  valuable  than 
one  who  cannot.  Directions  can  be  given  with  greater 
assurance  that  they  will  be  carried  out.  There  is  not 

281 


282  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

the  trouble  of  appealing  to  an  interpreter.  Danger 
warnings  and  other  posted  orders  can  be  understood. 
In  short  it  is  considered  good  business  on  the  part  of 
many  corporations  to  teach  their  alien  workmen 
English. 

The  case  for  civic  instruction  and  the  encourage- 
ment in  securing  citizen  papers  is  not  so  clear.  The 
reasoning  here  is  that  a  man  who  starts  on  the  road 
toward  citizenship  has  acquired  a  stake  in  the  country 
and  on  that  account  works  more  contentedly.  He  is 
probably  less  influenced  by  radical  and  in  particular 
anticapitalistic  agitation  which  is  frequently  asso- 
ciated with  strikes  and  sabotage. 

It  should  be  said  to  the  credit  of  several  corpora- 
tions that  they  had  previous  to  the  war  organized 
well-planned  schemes  for  teaching  English  and  for 
aiding  their  employees  to  secure  citizenship.  This 
movement  had  also  been  greatly  aided  by  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association.  The  work  particularly 
through  the  past  year  has  been  much  extended  both 
by  the  corporations'  own  educational  departments 
and  by  the  assistance  of  the  philanthropic  association 
just  mentioned  and  other  similar  societies. 

Methods  are  usually  very  simple.  Volunteer  teach- 
ers are  usually  secured  who  are  given  a  short  course 
of  instruction.  Classes  are  then  organized  wherever 
a  blackboard  can  conveniently  be  set  up  in  the  plant 
with  benches  opposite  it.  Classes  ordinarily  meet 
just  after  the  day  shift  or  just  previous  to  the  night 
shift  twice  a  week.  Usually  the  company  pays  the 
volunteer  teachers  a  small  salary  for  the  time  required. 
On  the  whole  the  classes  meet  with  more  favor  during 
the  winter  when  there  are  less  outside  distractions. 


TECHNICAL  AND  GENERAL  INSTRUCTION        283 

Various  means  have  been  suggested  to  bring  into 
the  classes  all  for  whom  they  are  intended  for  there 
are  ordinarily  many  who  do  not  avail  themselves  of 
the  opportunity.  Of  course  it  is  possible  to  secure  the 
cooperation  of  the  company  and  have  all  non-English 
workmen  discharged  but  that  creates  bad  feeling  and 
often  loses  the  service  of  an  otherwise  satisfactory 
workman  and  may  simply  drive  the  men  to  classes 
where  they  give  but  half-hearted  attention.  One 
proposal  has  been  to  encourage  the  learning  of  English 
by  giving  a  small  bonus  to  those  who  in  addition  to 
being  satisfactory  workmen  regularly  attend  the 
classes  and  gain  a  knowledge  of  English.  This  is 
based  on  the  general  opinion  that  a  laborer  speaking 
English  is  on  that  account  a  more  valuable  man. 
Thus  if  46  cents  an  hour  was  the  prevailing  rate  for 
unskilled  labor  in  a  given  region  an  additional  2  cents 
an  hour  might  be  given  either  for  knowing  English  or 
for  regular  attendance  to  acquire  it.  This  would 
mean  about  $50  a  year  above  the  basic  rate,  which  it 
is  believed  would  be  only  a  fair  recognition  of  a  differ- 
ence in  earning  power.  Another  method  frequently 
found  is  to  make  attendance  at  class  compulsory  and 
to  pay  for  class  attendance.  If  classes  are  held  two 
hours  a  week,  this  would  amount  to  about  the  same 
increase  in  pay.  When  classes  are  voluntary  a  small 
fee  is  frequently  charged  of  a  dollar  a  two  or  month. 
This  places  a  value  upon  the  classes  to  those  who 
take  them  which  is  said  to  make  the  attendance 
more  regular  but  probably  greatly  reduces  the  en- 
rollment. 

In  one  class  a  more  thoroughgoing  course  is  pro- 
vided of  three  hours  per  night  three  nights  a  week. 


284  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

This  appeals  to  the  younger  more  ambitious  men  who 
wish  to  get  ahead.  These  classes  are  of  course  volun- 
tary and  the  expense  is  borne  in  part  by  the  students' 
fees,  the  deficit  being  supplied  by  the  company. 

One  of  the  problems  of  this  type  of  instruction  is 
that  of  obtaining  suitable  teachers.  It  is  the  gen- 
eral opinion  that  the  ordinary  public  school  teacher  is 
unsatisfactory  particularly  for  the  beginning  classes 
unless  she  is  taught  a  new  type  of  teaching.  Ordi- 
narily she  brings  to  the  work  elementary  school 
methods  and  text  books  and  for  the  night  school  is 
already  exhausted  by  her  regular  day  work.  Prob- 
'ably  the  best  men  in  the  plant  are  the  best  source  for 
teachers  particularly  the  educated  younger  men  who 
are  given  a  short  initial  training  for  the  work.  Fre- 
quently among  the  recent  immigrants  are  found  sev- 
eral with  good  educations  in  their  native  lands  or  de- 
sirably in  this  country  who  speak  good  English  and  who 
can  be  enlisted  for  the  purpose.  They  should,  however, 
be  carefully  scrutinized  as  to  their  American  loyalty 
and  general  social  viewpoint  as  there  are  of  course 
many  among  these  immigrant  intellectuals  with  the 
most  radical  opinions.  In  some  plants  properly 
trained  women  seem  to  be  very  successful. 

The  dramatic  direct  method  seems  to  be  the 
preferred  starting  course.  It  utilizes  the  everyday  life 
of  the  men  as  its  source,  does  not  attempt  too  much  in 
each  lesson,  and  by  repetition  fixes  the  correct  pronun- 
ciation of  the  new  words  in  the  men's  minds.  This  is 
followed  by  reading  lessons  drawn  from  the  mill  life 
in  which  the  problems  of  pay,  lessons  in  thrift,  health, 
avoiding  accidents,  and  various  types  of  company 
welfare  activities  are  introduced.  It  is  probable  that 


TECHNICAL  AND  GENERAL  INSTRUCTION        283 

these  men  welcome  genuine  assistance  in  this  way 
coupled  with  English  instruction  where  it  would  be 
passed  up  with  suspicion  by  native  Americans. 

This  instruction  has  been  organized  usually  by  the 
company's  educational  department  who  get  it  up  first 
as  mimeographed  sheets  and  later  have  it  printed. 
For  the  advanced  courses  standard  texts  with  lessons 
drawn  from  American  history,  government,  and  geog- 
raphy are  used.  The  new  geography  of  Europe  has 
been  a  matter  of  great  interest.  Lantern  slides  as  an 
element  in  the  courses  have  added  much  to  the  popu- 
larity of  the  classes  and  are  a  point  of  departure  for 
the  discussion  which  in  the  advanced  classes  may  be 
carried  on. 

In  some  plants  the  problem  is  with  foreign  women 
and  is  solved  by  similar  methods  only  that  the  teach- 
ing force  is  made  up  of  educated  women  and  there  is 
an  introduction  of  instruction  in  homemaking  as 
many  of  the  women  are  already  married  or  contem- 
plating such  a  step. 

It  should  be  said  that  English  classes  can  work 
more  closely  in  conjunction  with  company  welfare 
activities  than  can  the  definite  vocational  instruc- 
tion discussed  in  earlier  chapters.  Thus  there  is 
cooperation  in,  advice  and  assistance  toward  home- 
owning,  with  visiting  nurses,  and  in  legal  aid  where 
such  is  provided.  Often  working  with  entertainment 
and  recreation  departments  particularly  in  the  way 
of  musical  clubs  and  athletic  teams  has  been  very 
successful. 

The  Negro  in  Northern  Industry. — The  influx  of  the 
southern  negroes  into  the  unskilled  labor  field  of  the 
North  has  brought  into  many  plants  somewhat  the 


286  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

same  problems  as  has  the  foreigners  iix  others.  Illit- 
eracy replaces  lack  of  speaking  knowledge  of  English 
as  the  problem  of  education.  There  is  frequently 
the  same  incapacity  to  handle  their  own  housing  and 
legal  problems  and  to  secure  innocent  amusement. 
There  is  usually  the  same  or  greater  ignorance  rela- 
tive to  hygienic  conditions  and  probably  greater 
danger  of  race  feuds.  Fortunately  there  are  educated 
negroes  who  can  be  secured  to  handle  various  types 
of  educational  and  welfare  work.  Much  excellent 
organizing  work  in  this  field  has  been  done  by  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

Health  and  Accident  Prevention  Instruction. — It  is 
doubtless  true  that  American  industry  is  constantly 
improving  as  regards  healthfulness  of  working  con- 
ditions. This  includes  proper  lighting,  sanitation, 
good  air,  optimum  adjustment  of  temperature,  where 
possible,  provision  of  sitting  facilities  (particularly 
for  women),  pressure  withdrawal  of  noxious  gases  and 
dust,  etc.  Many  companies  also  provide  cafeterias 
where  the  best  food  is  provided  at  moderate  cost  for 
midday  lunches  and  even  for  all  meals. 

This  better  provision  for  the  health  and  comfort  of 
employees  should  be  ascribed  to  two  causes — super- 
vision and  inspp.fit.inn  by  gtai.ft  commissions  and  the 
intelligent  realization  on  the  part  of  the  corporation 
management  that  it  pays  to  have  contented  healthy 
labor.  It  is  believed  that  a  better  grade  of  labor  is 
recruited  at  the  same  rate  of  pay,  more  is  accomplished 
with  the  same  machinery,  with  fewer  accidents  and 
with  a  reduced  turnover.  Workmen's  compensation 
laws  and  the  same  enlightened  attitude  has  also  worked 
toward  the  installation  of  safety  guards  and  the 


TECHNICAL  AND  GENERAL  INSTRUCTION        287 

provision  of  emergency  hospitals  with  adequate 
medical  and  first  aid  personnel. 

This  study  has,  however,  been  concerned  with  the 
provision  for  instruction  in  this  field.  Thus  we  find 
one  company  provides  a  lecture  on  health  and  accident 
prevention  for  all  new  employees.  If  even  a  part  of 
the  employees  can  be  induced  by  this  means  to  be 
more  careful  it  is  worth  while  as  *"in  a  large  steel 
plant  the  accident  records  revealed  that  men  employed 
less  than  thirty  days  were  injured  six  times  as  fre- 
quently as  those  employed  longer,  and  that  those  em- 
ployed less  than  six  months  were  injured  four  times 
as  frequently  as  the  remainder."  Also  it  has  been 
demonstrated  f"  in  the  industries  doing  the  most 
efficient  safety  work,  two-thirds  has  been  accom- 
plished through  organization  and  education,  as  against 
one-third  accomplished  by  means  of  mechanical  safe- 
guards or  equipment." 

Much  more  than  by  the  formal  lecture  has,  how- 
ever, been  accomplished  by  definite  explicit  instruc- 
tion in  hazards  to  be  avoided  in  each  particular  job. 
A  very  great  responsibility  falls  on  the  foreman  as 
regards  instructing  both  his  new  and  old  men  sug- 
gesting an  important  element  in  foreman  training. 

In  many  plants  the  work  heads  up  to  a  safety  en- 
gineer (or  inspector).  He  is  assisted  in  initiating  and 
disseminating  improved  safety  policies  by  a  central 
safety  committee.  Much  has  been  accomplished  in 
securing  the  cooperation  of  workmen  by  safety  com- 
mittees formed  among  the  men  in  each  department 

*  "Industrial  Accident  sand  Their  Prevention,"  p.  21.     Bulletin  47, 
Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education, 
t  Ibid.,  p.  8. 


288  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

who  make  inspections  and  monthly  (or  in  some  cases 
weekly)  reports  of  possible  improvements.  Much 
education  in  the  field  is  carried  out  by  bulletin  board 
exhibits,  graphically  depicting  accidents  recently  oc- 
curring. Rules  for  health  promotion  during  working 
hours  and  for  accident  prevention  are  frequently 
formulated  after  consultations  with  central  and  work- 
men's safety  committees,  and  printed  for  general  dis- 
tribution and  in  particular  to  new  employees.  They 
may  also  serve  as  English  lessons  to  immigrant  em- 
ployees. 

(3)  Evening  Schools. — Some  companies  find  it 
worth  while  to  provide  their  own  evening  schools  in 
addition  to  public  night  schools  and  extension  depart- 
ments of  universities  and  technical  or  commercial  insti- 
tutes. Their  policy  is  usually  based  on  the  fact  that 
through  their  technical  staff  they  can  provide  instruc- 
tion more  suited  to  the  particular  needs  of  their  em- 
ployees than  other  educational  extension  facilities  at 
a  more  convenient  hour  and  place,  just  after  work  or 
during  the  noon  hour  in  the  plant.  Again  the  plant 
may  be  the  center  of  the  community  life,  particularly 
when  it  is  the  sole  industry  of  the  locality. 

The  instruction  is  ordinarily  of  a  trade  extension 
nature,  i.e.,  drafting,  mechanics,  etc.,  for  the  men,  type- 
writing, and  comptometry  for  the  women  employees. 

Sometimes  it  offers  assistance  in  trade  conversion, 
that  is  provision  for  shifting  to  a  more  congenial  or 
better  suited  employment  such  as  providing  training 
for  salesmanship  to  clerks. 

Occasionally  there  is  more  thought  of  general  com- 
munity welfare  as  when  a  course  in  "  hygiene  and 
health  "  as  a  training  for  practical  nursing  is  provided. 


TECHNICAL  AND  GENERAL  INSTRUCTION        289 

This  may  be  a  provision  for  the  wives  of  company 
employees. 

At  the  best  all  this  instruction  should  be  considered 
as  assistance  toward  efficiency  in  a  new  or  present 
occupation  rather  than  basic  vocational  education. 
It  may  indeed  be  highly  useful  but  the  perusal  of  the 
studies  in  definite  industrial  training  would  lead  one  to 
believe  that  such  instruction  should  hold  but  a  sub- 
ordinate place  in  a  corporation's  educational  program. 


CHAPTER  XV 
CONCLUSIONS 

The  Corporation  as  a  Vocational  Education  Unit. — 

The  fundamental  conclusion  resulting  from  these 
studies  of  the  educational  and  training  programs  of 
various  American  corporations  is  that  the  larger  cor- 
poration may  profitably  be  considered  the  unit  for 
the  vocational  training  of  its  employees  in  their 
specific  occupations.  In  limited  fields  for  the  skilled 
trades  which  may  desirably  be  entered  upon  leaving 
elementary  school  this  takes  the  form  of  apprentice- 
ship. For  such  employments  as  presuppose  either  an 
extended  or  specialized  technical  training  this  period 
of  practical  experience  is  less  extended  but  quite  as 
desirably  under  direction.  In  the  far  larger  field  of 
semiskilled  specialties  definite  vocational  training  is 
quite  as  essential  but  in  most  cases  for  a  brief  period 
sevend_jlayj;3_weeks,  or  months  only.  There  is  also 
the  definite  upgrading  or  promotion  training  for 
specialized  occupations  usually  peculiar  to  the  par- 
ticular products  of  the  company  concerned.  Further, 
there  is  a  more  general  training  for  the  supervisory 
force  of  a  corporation.  This  may  take  the  form  of 
part-time  instruction  or  conferences  of  those  at  pres- 
ent employed  in  this  capacity  or  of  an  organized 
practical  experience  through  a  period  of  time  as  a  pro- 
motion program  to  prepare  for  such  positions. 

290 


CONCLUSIONS  291 

Size  of  a  Plant  to  Warrant  its  Organizing  as  an 
Educational  Unit  with  a  Distinct  Education  and 
Training  Department. — Later  experience  may  war- 
rant much  smaller  plants  organizing  educational  de- 
partments. This  investigation  has,  however,  found 
plants  which  employed  a  working  force  of  not  over 
3,000_j3eople,  operating  successful  educational  pro- 
grams. It  seems  to  be  a  rough  experimental  ratio 
that  not  more  than  lj)j)ej^cent  of  the  total  working 
force  of  a  company  will  be  under  various  types  of 
training — initial  intensive  training,  upgrading,  super- 
visory training,  or  evening  extension  (either  provided 
by  the  company  or  by  external  educational  institu- 
tions). This  is  based  on  the  ratio  of  immature  and 
inexperienced  workers  to  adults  and  trained  employees 
which  a  plant  will  ordinarily  have  in  its  employ.  Prep- 
aration for  rapid  expansion  or  the  initiation  of  a 
training  program  in  a  plant  with  an  outstandingly 
low  production  record  might  justify  placing  tempor- 
arily a  much  larger  force  under  training.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  plant  with  low  labor  turnover  with  an 
even  satisfactory  production  and  efficient  supervisory 
force  may  find  it  necessary  to  provide  training  facili- 
ties for  a  much  smaller  ratio  of  employees. 

Where  only  one  or  two  types  of  training  and  edu- 
cation seem  desirable  a  much  smaller  company  may 
feel  warranted  in  providing  its  own  facilities  for  the 
purpose.  Thus,  a  company  with  only  twenty  appren- 
tices may  arrange_^,_prQgressive  schedule  of  transfers 
for  variety  of  experience  and  a  class  for  supplemen- 
tary instruction  in  drawing  and  related  mathematics. 
Such  a  company  might  organize  conferences  for  in- 
struction of  its  foremen.  It  might  provide  a  scheme 


292  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

of  intensive  training  in  one  or  more, -of  its  specialties 
where  production  was  unsatisfactory  or  turnover 
seemed  unnecessarily  large.  It  would  probably  rely 
on  the  public  facilities  for  evening  extension  facilities. 
If  such  were  not  provided  it  might  initiate  such  pro- 
vision either  through  its  engineering  or  employment 
departments.  Such  various  provisions  as  above  out- 
lined have  been  found  in  companies  with  not  over  800 
employees. 

Experience  in  the  publishing  field  seems  to  warrant 
the  opinion  that  these  smaller  plants  can  cooperate 
in  maintaining  a  school  for  the  supplementary  in- 
struction of  all  their  apprentices.  It  is  a  reasonable 
presumption  that,  in  order  to  assure  that  such  a  school 
will  be  efficiently  maintained  in  the  interest  of  the 
boys  concerned,  it  should  be  supported  at  public 
expense. 

The  policy  of  maintaining  part-time  industrial 
schools  to  provide  this  instruction  is  of  course  an  ex- 
tension of  this  plan  to  other  industries.  Only  in  one 
state,  that  of  Wisconsin,  however,  is  this  plan  based 
on  a  regular  indenture  with  the  official  machinery  for 
promoting  such  a  provision,  and  for  recording  accom- 
plishments. It  is  a  recommendation  based  on  this 
study  that  such  machinery  should  be  set  up  in  every 
industrial  state. 

It  should  be  reiterated  that  the  provision  of  supple- 
mentary instruction  does  not  solve  the  problem  of 
industrial  education,  but  that  directed  experience  at 
all  the  operations  incident  to  the  trade  for  which  prep- 
aration is  being  made  is  of  equal  or  greater  impor- 
tance than  supplementary  instruction.  The  Wiscon- 
sin plan  undertakes  to  supervise  this  provision  by 


CONCLUSIONS  293 

requirement  that  a  schedule  of  processes  to  be  worked 
shall  be  made  a  part  of  the  contract  of  apprenticeship. 

Organization  of  Training  and  Education  Depart- 
ment.— To  assure  satisfactory  education  and  train- 
ing within  an  industrial  plant,  a  suitable  organization 
is  of  course  as  essential  as  for  any  other  function  sub- 
ordinate to  production  such  as  employment,  safety, 
sales  or  auditing. 

This  necessitates  a  training  department  with  a  chief 
competent  to  handle  all  the  responsibilities  of  such  a 
department.  He  may  be  styled  a  manager,  superin- 
tendent or  director  depending  on  the  corresponding 
designations  of  coordinate  departments  in  the  plant 
concerned. 

The  plan  of  organization  used  by  the  Emergency 
Fleet  Corporation  is  shown  in  Fig.  4.  In  some  plants 
the  preferred  arrangement  is  to  make  the  training  and 
education  department  subordinate  to  the  employment 
manager.  If  training  is  to  be  of  the  vestibule  school 
variety  this  may  work  satisfactorily  if  we  may  pre- 
sume that  the  employment  chief  is  capable  of  direct- 
ing the  work.  The  disadvantages  of  vestibule  schools 
have,  however,  already  been  pointed  out  suggesting 
the  advisability  of  tying  up  the  training  to  the  pro- 
duction departments. 

Probably  the  most  satisfactory  arrangement  is  a 
department  of  education  and  training  independent  of 
both  employment  and  production  heading  up  to  the 
vice  president  in  charge  of  industrial  relations.  Co- 
operation of  the  other  departments  should  then  be 
arranged  for  through  a  consultation  committee  in 
which  the  policies  of  the  training  and  education  de- 
partment are ,  formulated. 


294 


EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 


It  is  believed  that  the  following  description  of  the 
Director  of  Training  in  the  Shipbuilding  Corporation 
is  equally  applicable  in  other  industries: 

"The  director  of  a  training  department  is  an  important  factor 
in  effecting  the  success  of  training  in  a  shipyard.  Experience  has 


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FIG.  4. — Organization  Chart  Showing  Relation  of  Training  Department 
to  Other  Departments  in  the  Emergency  Fleet  Shipyards, 
from  "The  Training  of  Shipyard  Workers,"  p.  53. 


shown  that  he  may  not  be  an  experienced  shipyard  man.  He  may 
not  necessarily  have  had  experience  in  industrial  training.  In  the 
first  place,  he  must  be  a  good  executive,  a  leader  of  men;  he  must 
appreciate  the  principles  governing  effective  training;  he  must 
understand  the  shipyard  organization;  he  must  be  cooperative 
with  all  departments,  he  should  be  a  man  big  enough  to  head  up  to 


CONCLUSIONS  295 

the  general  manager  and  work  on  a  par  with  the  various  superin- 
tendents and  head  foremen."  * 

When  there  are  several  important  departments  in 
the  program  the  practice  seems  to  be  to  provide  a 
supervisor  of  each.  Especially  is  this  true  of  appren- 
ticeship. In  this  case  he  is  usually  the  head  of  the 
apprenticeship  school  and  of  the  shop  training  de- 
partment if  provided,  and  is  given  supervisory  charge 
of  transfers  of  apprentices  in  their  shop  work.  One 
plant  has  also  several  training  supervisors  to  oversee 
the  training  being  provided  in  each  of  the  major  de- 
partments of  the  plant. 

One  very  essential  element  of  their  duties  is  the  or- 
ganizing of  the  instruction  in  the  specialties  under 
their  charge  on  the  basis  of  a  teaching  analysis  which 
it  should  be  stated  will  ordinarily  be  quite  different 
from  the  job  analysis  of  the  employment  department. 
The  latter  are  intended  to  be  logically  complete;  the 
former  psychological,  i.e.,  in  good  teaching  order. 

Another  of  their  responsibilities  will  be  the  teach- 
ing of  good  training  method  to  the  instructors  under 
them.  This  will  be  equally  essential  if  the  practice 
of  the  department  is  that  of  employing  the  job  fore- 
men as  instructors.  Upon  the  effectiveness  of  this 
teaching  depends  the  success  of  a  training  program. 

Probably  the  director  will  frequently  arrange  con- 
ferences to  impress  the  instructors  with  the  impor- 
tance of  this  teaching  and  will  check  up  its  satisfactori- 
ness.  Of  course  if  department  supervisors  are  not 
employed  the  responsibility  will  fall  upon  him  which 
will  be  the  case  in  the  smaller  plants. 

*  "The  Training  of  Shipyard  Workers,"  p.  52. 


296  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

The  Extension  of  the  Training  Idea. — These  studies 
have  shown  that  training  and  education  are  accepted 
responsibilities  in  a  large  number  of  plants.  There 
are  equally  important  plants  where  it  is  not  practiced. 
How  can  it  be  made  universal? 

It  is  conceivable  that  it  might  be  made  mandatory. 
•We  now  have  state  industrial  commissions  which 
limit  the  hours  and  types  of  work  at  which  minors 
and  women  may  be  employed.  It  might  be  possible 
by  law  to  require  that  every  factory  shall  maintain  a 
training  department  for  initiating  into  its  work  the 
raw  recruits  as  did  France  during  the  war.* 

If,. however,  such  an -imperialistic  policy  for  peace 
times  proved  unpopular  with  the  manufacturers,  it 
would  be  very  easy  for  them  to  render  it  nugatory  or 
so  to  manipulate  it  that  it  became  equally  unpopular 
with  the  workers  whose  votes  would  quickly  abolish 
the  system.  Probably,  in  any  case,  trade  unionism 
would  be  hostile. 

The  democratic  approach  is  to  allow  any  new  system 
to  prove  its  case  in  competition  with  the  old  order. 
If  a  manufacturer  by  introducing  a  more  effective 
training  program  can  build  up  a  superior  working 
force  his  resulting  prosperity  will  quickly  force  his 
competitors  to  adopt  similar  methods. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  no  manager  can  afford  to 
effectively  train  his  workers  as  competitors  make  it  a 
practice  to  immediately  "  steal  "  the  trained  men  by 
inducements  of  better  pay.  It  must  be  the  reverse 
side  of  the  shield  of  good  training  to  make  the  con- 
ditions of  employment  of  the  plant  in  which  it  is 

*  Bulletin  No.  3.  Training  and  Dilution  Service,  U.  S.  Dept.  of 
Labor. 


CONCLUSIONS  297 

practiced  so  attractive  that  they  will  prefer  to  remain 
with  the  company  which  has  first  won  their  loyalty. 
In  other  words,  training  and  education  are  but  one 
element  in  building  up  satisfactory  industrial  relations. 

It  is,  however,  true  that  much  good  promotive 
work  can  be  done  by  national  and  state  vocational 
education  departments.  Such  phases  of  their  edu- 
cational machinery  as  lend  themselves  to  cooperation 
with  the  manufacture  may  be  utilized.  This,  of  course, 
applies  in  particular  to  supplementary  instruction 
which  can  be  made  much  more  effective  by  constant 
consultation  with  the  production  departments  of  the 
employers  of  their  pupils  to  assure  that  it  really  ties 
up  to  the  work  in  the  plant. 

As  regards  apprenticeship,  the  case  is  clearest.  It 
is  possible  to  establish  a  bureau  for  promoting  appren- 
ticeship and  for  keeping  accurate  records  of  progress. 
This  should  be  a  state  institution  and  probably  in  the 
vocational  education  department  since  it  is  through 
that  arm  of  its  service  that  it  must  reach  each  locality 
and  plant  for  its  educational  work. 

An  Analysis  of  the  Incidence  of  the  Cost  of  Train- 
ing and  Education. — The  following  are  in  varying 
degrees  affected  by  presence  or  lack  of  effective  vo- 
cational education: 

(1)  The  Worker 

(2)  His  Employer 

(3)  The  Industry  of  which  the  employing  concern 

is  a  part 

(4)  The  Group  of  Workers  to  which  the  worker 

belongs  occupationally 

(5)  The  State  as  representative  of  the  consuming 

public,  but  also  as  interested  in  the  Worker 


298  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

as  one  of  its  members  or  as  responsible  for 
his  education  if  still  a  minor,  and  as 
directly  interested  in  the  prosperity  of  the 
Employer  upon  which  its  own  depends. 

It  can  be  said  that  inadequate  training  falls  most 
heavily  on  the  Worker  as  low  production  must  be  re- 
flected by  low  wages.  It  is  folly  to  presume  that 
workers7  organizations  can  force  up  wages  unless 
proportionate  production  actually  takes  place.  Also, 
self-sustained  training,  including  apprenticeship,  is 
paid  for  by  the  worker  concerned.  The  cost  of  it  is 
by  the  economic  law  of  wages  assessed  back  on  him 
in  competition  with  the  full  producing  worker. 

The  Employer  is  equally  benefited  by  good  train- 
ing. Only  two  sources  are  open  to  him  through  which 
he  can  recruit  his  working  force — training  or  inducing 
skilled  workers  to  leave  other  employers  for  his  ser- 
vice. Experience  is  demonstrating  that  the  former 
works  ultimately  to  his  advantage  and  in  the  long  run 
is  cheaper. 

It  should  also  be  recognized  that  the  larger  the 
reservoir  of  skilled  workers  becomes  in  a  given  in- 
dustry the  less  possibility  is  there  of  unreasonable 
demands  being  enforced  by  strikes  and  threats  of 
cessation  of  work. 

In  the  long  run  good  training  benefits  the  Group  of 
Workers  concerned.  Only  by  maintaining  a  high 
grade  of  workmanship  with  the  resulting  high  pro- 
duction can  a  group  of  workers  maintain  a  satisfac- 
tory wage  scale.  If  training  is  defeated  by  the  work- 
ers it  means  that  their  type  of  work  degenerates  until 
it  reaches  a  par  with  unskilled  work  which  entails  that 
it  will  be  invaded  by  the  horde  of  unskilled  laborers. 


CONCLUSIONS  299 

The  State  benefits  by  good  training  as  whatever 
makes  production  larger  makes  it  easier  for  all  to  pur- 
chase. It  also  increases  the  number  of  its  skilled 
workers,  lessening  the  number  of  its  casual  irrespon- 
sible workers.  Moreover,  increasing  production  is 
reflected  in  improved  revenues  from  taxation  which 
of  .course  accrues  to  the  benefit  of  the  general  public 
in  better  schools,  roads,  and  all  that  we  have  come  to 
expect  shall  be  provided  by  the  commonwealth. 


300  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY 
General  References  on  Training  and  Education  in  the  Industry 

National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools,  Annual  Reports,  Vol.  I  to 

date.     New  York. 

(This  is  the  main  authoritative  source  for  all  types  of  corporation 

training.) 
BEATTY,  A.  J. :  A  Comparative  Study  of  Corporation  Schools  as  to  their 

Organization,  Administration,  and  Methods  of  Instruction.     Ur- 

bana,Ill.    1917. 

Corporation  and  Continuation  School.     National  Education  Associa- 
tion Yearbook,  1916,  pp.  415-420. 
Industrial  Education  Survey  of  New  York  City.     1918. 
Minneapolis  Survey  for  Vocational  Education.     U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor 

Statistics.    Whole  No.  199.     1916. 
Vocational  Education  Survey  of  Richmond,  Virginia.     U.  S.  Bureau  of 

Labor  Statistics.     Whole  No.  162.     1916. 
SNEDDEN,  D. :  Vocational  Education.     New  York.     1920. 
BABSON,  R.  W.:   The  Future  of  the  Working  Class.     Economic  Facts 

for  Employers  and  Wage  Earners. 

COMMON,  J.  R.    Industrial  Goodwill.     New  York.     1919. 
Possibilities  of  Paper  Box  Making;  Report  N.  Y.  State  Department  of 

Labor.     1315.. 
COLVIN,  F.  H.:   Labor  Turnover,  Loyalty,  and  Output.    New  York. 

1919. 
KELLY,  R.  W.:    Employment  Management  and  Industrial  Training. 

Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education.     Bui.  48.     1919. 
AYRES,  L.  P. :  Constant  and  Variable  Occupations  and  their  Bearing  on 

Problems  of  Vocational  Education. 
LITCHFIELD,  P.  W.:   Some  Wingfoot  Clan  Editorials.     Goodyear  Tire 

and  Rubber  Company,  pp.  22,  77,  87.     1919. 


CONCLUSIONS  301 


Special  Training 

ALLEN,  C.  R. :  The  Instructor,  the  Man  and  the  Job.     New  York.  1919. 
The  Training  of  Shipyard  Workers,  U.  S.  Shipping  Board.     Philadel- 
phia.    1919. 

Industrial  Reconstruction  Problems.     Report  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
National  Conference  of  the  Society  of  Industrial  Engineers.     1919. 
Descriptions  of  Occupations.     U.  S.  Dept.  of  Labor.     1918. 
Trade  Specification  and  Index.    U.  S.  Army.     1918. 
VALENTINE  and  GREGG:  Outline  of  Job  Analysis.     N.  Y.     1918. 
LEE,  F.  S.:   The  Human  Machine  and  Industrial  Efficiency.     N.  Y. 

1918. 

EMERSON,  H.:  Twelve  Principles  of  Efficiency. 
GANTT,  H.  L. :  Industrial  Leadership.     New  Haven.     1916. 

•   Work,  Wages,  and  Profits. 

TAYLOR,  F.  W.:  The  Principles  of  Scientific  Management.     N.Y.   1911. 
National  Association  of  Manufacturers,  Annual  Reports  of  Committee 

of  Industrial  Education,  Years  1918,  1919. 
U.  S.  Training  Service.     Washington.     1919. 

Bui.     1.  How  to  Start  a  Training  Department. 

Bui.    5.  Training  Labor  for  Peace  Time 

Bui.    6.  Labor  Turnover  and  Industrial  Training. 

Bui.  12.  How  Training  Departments  have  Bettered  Production. 

Bui.  13.  Industrial  Training  in  Representative  Industries. 

Bui.  14.  Training  in  Industrial  Plants. 

Bui.  15.  Training  in  the  Paper  Box  Industry. 

LINK,  H.  C.:    Employment  Psychology,  Chaps.  XX,  XXI.     N.  Y. 

1919. 

SPENCE,  J.  C. :  Shop  Industrial  Training.     Civic  Education  Review. 
Foreman  Training  Courses.     Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education. 

Bui.  36.     1919. 

The  Foreman.     U.  S.  Training  Service.     Bui.  26.     1919. 
LITCHFIELD,  P.  W.:  "Our  Flying  Squadron"  Factory,  Mch.  1,  1920. 

Apprenticeship,  General 

Outline  of  Instructions  in  Related  Subjects  for  the  Machinist's  Trade. 

Federal  Board  for  Voc.  Ed.  Bui.  52.     1919. 
ADAMS  and  SUMNER:   Labor  Problems.     Chap.  XI 


302  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

BEMIS:  The  Relation  of  Labor  Organizations  to  the  American  Boy  and 
to  Trade  Instruction.  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Politi- 
cal and  Social  Science.  Vol.  V.,  pp.  209-241. 

BRAY:  Boy  Labor  and  Apprenticeship. 

CARLETON:  Education  and  Industrial  Evolution.  Chaps.  XXI,  XII, 
XV. 

EATON,  J.  S.:  Education  for  Efficiency  in  Railroad  Service.  U.  S. 
Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  10.  1909. 

FLEMING,  A.  P.  M.  and  PEARCE,  J.  G.:  The  Principles  of  Apprentice 
Training.  New  York.  1916. 

PLATET,  H.:  La  Crise  de  1'Apprentissage  dans  la  Ganterie;  ses  Causes, 
quelques  Moyens  d'y  remedier.  1915. 

REVILLE,  M.:  Enseignement  Technique  et  Apprentissage.  Encyc. 
Parlementaire  des  Sciences  Politiques  et  Sociales. 

ALFASSA,  M.:  La  Recrutement  et  la  Formation  Necessaires  de  nos 
Apprentis.  Correspondant  (Nouvelle  serie)  tome  226,  pp.  659-678. 
Paris.  1916. 

JULLY,  A.:  Les  Repercussions  des  Methodes  Modernes  de  Travail  sur 
1'Utilization  et  la  Formation  du  Personnel  Ouvrier.  Apprentis- 
sage et  Preapprentissage.  Tome  128.  Paris.  1917. 

United  Typothetae  of  America.     Com.  on  Apprentices.     Report.    1913. 

A  Rational  Apprentice  System.  American  Engineering  and  Railroad 
Journal.  Vol.  81,  pp.  201-210,  253-259,  333-337,  373-387,  413-423. 
New  York.  1907. 

Apprenticeship  and  Skilled  Employment  Association.  Annual  Re- 
ports. 1907-18. 

ASHWORTH,  J.  H.:  Helper  and  American  Trade  Unions.  Baltimore, 
1915. 

The  Apprenticeship  System.    Mass.  Bur.  Statistical  Labor.    1906. 

ALEXANDER,  M.  W.:  Conference  Board  on  Training  of  Apprentices. 
Nos.  1  and  2.  1916-1917. 

THOMAS,  F.  W. :  Training  Men  for  the  Mechanical  Department  on  the 
Santa  Fe\  Western  Railway  Club.  Vol.  29,  pp.  185-214. 

The  Training  of  Young  Men  for  Positions  of  Responsibility. 

N.  Y.  Railway  Club.     Vol.  26,  pp.  4584-4617. 

The  Apprentice  Systems  of  the  Santa  Fe  R.R.  System.     National 

Education  Association  of  the  U.  S.  Journal,  pp.  175-184.     1914. 

C.  R.  DOOLEY:  Final  Report  Committee  on  Education  and  Special 
Training.  War  Department.  1919. 


CONCLUSIONS  303 


Apprenticeship,  History 

SCOTT,  J.  F.:    Historical  Essays  on  Apprenticeship  and  Vocational 

Education.     Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

UNWIN,  G.:   The  Guilds  and  Companies  of  London.     1910. 
DUNLOP,  O.  J.  and  DENHAM,  R.  D. :  English  Apprenticeship  and  Child 

Labor.     London.     1912. 
KRAMER,  S.:   English  Craft  Guilds  and  Their  Government.     Columbia 

University  Press.     New  York.     1905. 

LAMBERT,  J.  M.:  Two  Thousand  Years  of  Guild  Life.    Hull,  England. 
WRIGHT,  C.  D. :  The  Apprenticeship  System  in  Relation  to  Industrial 

Education.     U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  Bui.  6.     1908. 
Trade  Guilds  of  Europe,  U.  S.  Consular  Report,  1885. 
WESTERMAN,  W.  L.:    Apprenticeship  Contracts  and  the  Apprentice 

System  in  Roman  Egypt.     Journal  Classical  Philology,  Vol.  IX, 

pp.  295-315. 
SEYBOLT,  R.  F. :  Apprenticeship  and  Apprentice  Education  in  Colonial 

New  England  and  New  York.     Teachers  College  Contributions 

to  Education,  No.  85.     1917. 


Training  in  the  Industry  for  Technical  and  Executive  Positions 

Go  WIN,  E.  B.:   Developing  Executive  Ability.     New  York.     1920 

GALLOWAY,  L. :  Office  Management,  its  Principles  and  Practice.  New 
York.  1918. 

SCHNEIDER,  H.:  Cooperative  System  of  Technical  Education.  Engi- 
neering Magazine,  Vol.  XXXIV,  p.  354. 

Cooperative  Course  in  Cincinnati,  ibid.,  Vol.  XXXV,  p. 929. 

Sept.,  1908. 

BERG,  E.  J. :  Cooperation  between  Engineering  Colleges  and  Industries. 
Engineering  Education,  10:214-15,  Feb.,  1920. 

Public  Industrial  Education 

Vocational  Secondary  Education.  Bui.  21,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education. 
1916. 

Bibliography  on  Industrial  Education.  Bui.  22,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation. 1913.  Bui.  33,  1915.  Bui.  37,  1916. 

National  Education  Association  Proceedings,    pp.  710-777.    1910. 


304  EMPLOYEE  TRAINING 

U.  S.  House  of  Representatives  Report,  181.     1916. 
Industrial  Education,  Cyclopedia  of  Education.     Vol.  Ill,  pp.  425-444. 
1914. 

National  Society  for  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education.     Bibliography 
on  Industrial  Education.     Bui.  2. 

National  Society  for  Vocational  Education.    All  bulletins. 

(This  is  the  American  organization  of  all  interested  in  public  indus- 
trial education.) 

University  of  the  State  of  New  York.     Bibliography  on  Industrial 
Education.     1914. 

Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education.    3d  Annual  Report,  1919. 

Also  Buls.  3,  4,  7,  8,  9,  11,  17,  18,  19,  30. 

(This  is  the  authoritative  source  for  contemporaneous  literature 
on  Vocational  Education.) 

GLYNN,  F.  L. :  Some  Trade  Schools  in  Europe.     U.  S.  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation. Bui.  23.     1914. 

DEAN,  A.  D.:  The  Worker  and  the  State.    1910. 

BONSER,  F.  G. :  Education  for  Life  Work  in  Non-professional  Occupa- 
tions.   American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science. 

HEDGES,  A.  C. :   Wage  Worth  of  School  Training.     Teachers  College, 
Columbia  University  Contributions  to  Education.     No.  76. 

LUTZ,  R.  R.:    Wage  Earning  and  Education.     Cleveland  Education 
Survey.    Vol.  25. 

PROSSER,  C.  A.:  Facilities  for  Industrial  Education.     Vocational  Edu- 
cation, Jan.,  1913.    pp.  189-203. 

Meaning    of    Industrial    Education.     Vocational    Education, 

May,  1913.    pp.  401-409. 

SNEDDEN,  D.:  Debatable  Issues  in  Vocational  Education.     Vocational 
Education,  Sept.,   1912. 

Problems  of  Vocational  Education. 

Public  Industrial  Education,  Part-Time  and  Continuation  Schools 

ARMSTRONG,   J.   W.   S. :    Trade  Continuation  Schools  of  Germany. 

London.  1913. 
BEST,  R.  H.  and  OGDEN,  C.  K. :  Problem  of  the  Continuation  School. 

London.  1914 
OBERG,  H.:  Griindung,  Enrichtung,  und  Verwaltung  von  obligatori- 

schen  gewerblichen  Fortbildungschulen. 


CONCLUSIONS  305 

Part-time    Vocational    Education.     National    Education    Association 

Proceedings,  1919.    pp.  272-276. 
KERSCHENSTEINER,  G. :  The  Schools  and  the  Nation.     London.     1914. 

Three  Lectures  on  Vocational  Training.     Chicago.     1911. 

SADLER,   M.  E.:    Continuation  Schools  in  England  and  Elsewhere. 
Boston  Continuation  Schools,   Circular  of  Information  and  Courses 

of  Study.     No.  4.     1919. 


INDEX 


Americanization, 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Mfg. 
Co.,  14 

General  Electric  Co.,  36 
Analysis  of  the  incidence  of  the 

cost  of  training,  297 
Apprentice,  definition,  xiv 

Cumulative  record  form,  114 

Report  form,  116 

Transfer  card,  117 
Apprentice  Department 

General     Electric     Co.,    West 
Lynn,  27 

Western  Electric  Co.,  38 
Apprentice    departments,    expen- 
sive  equipment    not   essential, 

227 

Apprentice  pay,  8,  21,  33,  61,  86, 
91,  99,  125 

Rates  of,  235 
Apprentice  School, 

Carnegie  Steel  Co.,  108 

Ford  Motor  Co.,  63 

Civic-moral  instruction  in,  223 

Descriptive,  222 

on  company  or  student's  time, 
228 

Under  plant  auspices  and  public 
part-time    school    compared, 
230 
Apprentice  Training, 

Brown  &  Sharpe  Manufactur- 
ing Co.,  131 

Conditions  for  good,  220 

Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber  Co.,  60 


Apprentice  Training, 

Packard  Motor  Car  Co.,  70 

Present  scope  of,  211 

Watervliet  Arsenal,  84 
Apprentices, 

Number  of,  under  well-organ- 
ized apprenticeship  in  the 
United  States,  213 

Shop-work  of,  125 

School-work  of,  126 

Ratio  of,  to  skilled  men,  6 

in  special  training  section,  6 
Apprenticeship, 

Age  period  of,  and  normal 
length  of  service,  233 

agreement,  standard  form  for, 
100-104 

Cooperative  course  of,  111 

department,  Superintendent  of, 
19 

Effect  upon,  of  unwise  statu- 
tory prohibition  as  to  em- 
ployment of  minors,  234 

Program  of,  in 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Man- 
ufacturing Co.,   5 
General    Electric  Co.,  Sche- 

nectady,  17 
Mergenthaler  Linotype  Co., 

99 

Winchester  Repeating  Arms 
Co.,  90 

School  substitutes  for,  238 

Trades  affected  by,  217 

Traditional,  modernized,  123 


307 


308 


INDEX 


Apprenticeship, 

Traditional  training,  definition, 

xv 

Grouping  of,  xxii 
Why,  219 

Bibliography,  Selected,  300 
Building  trades,  Solution  of  train- 
ing problems  for,  xix 

Carnegie  Steel  Co.,  105 

Citizenship  instruction, 

Law  of  New  York  State  for,  225 
Attitude  of  Federation  of  Labor 
relative  to,  225 

"Cold  storage"  teaching,  Warn- 
ing against,  discussed,  226 

Commercial   establishments, 
Greater     tendency     to     utilize 
public  education  facilities  in, 
xx 

Comprehensive  program,  Group- 
ing of,  xxii 

Conclusions,  290 

Continuation  school,  definition, 
xviii 

Cooperative  arrangement  for  en- 
gineering students,  33 

Cooperative   employment   of  en- 
gineering  students  in  industry, 
251 
Present  extent  of,  253 

Comparison  of  biweekly  periods 
with  quarterly  terms,  254 

Cooperative  industrial  school, 
United  Shoe  Machinery  Co.,  202 

Cooperative  Instruction,  defini- 
tion, xviii 

Cooperative  trade  school,  The,  241 

Corporation  school  vs.  continua- 
tion class  in  public  school, 
Factors  recommending  each,  231 

Correspondence  Schools,  243 


J.  &  T.  Cousins,  Shoe  Manufac- 
turers, 196 

Dennison  Manufacturing  Co.,  191 

Deposits  as  apprenticeship,  guar- 
antees, 236 

Director  of  training,  Qualifica- 
tions for,  294 

Drafting  office,  Effect  of  fluctua- 
tion in  size  of  the  personnel,  247 

Education,   Organization  for,    15 
Educational   activities,   Adminis- 
tration of,  51 

Educational  organization  plan,  97 
Electrical  manufacturing  industry, 

Programs  in  the,  1 
Endowed  Trade  School,  The,  242 
Engineer  training,  22 
Engineering  School,  29 
English  and  civic  instruction,  281 
English     classes     for     foreigners, 

Ford  Motor  Co.,  70 
Evening  and  noon  hour  instruc- 
tion, 121 

Evening  classes,  voluntary,  48 
Evening  improvement  and  trade 

extension  classes,  86 
Evening  schools,  corporation,  288 
Extension   of   the   training  idea, 
The,  296 

Floor  training,  Arguments  for,  269 
Definition,  xvii 

Floor  upgrading,  274 

Flying  squadron,  56 

Ford  Motor  Co.,  63 

Foreman  Training,  24,  88,  93, 
103,  188,  193 

Foremanship,  Training  for  promo- 
tion to,  297 

Functionalized  supervision,  Train- 
ing one  element  of,  273 


INDEX 


309 


General  Electric  Co.,  17 

Gisholt  Machine  Co.,  Upgrading 

school  for  customers'  employees, 

194 

Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber  Co.,  54 
Grinding  Course,  Norton  Co.,  78 

Habirshaw    Electric    Cable    Co., 

Technical  Course,  207 
Health  and  Accident  Prevention 
Instruction,  120,  286 

P.  Hoe  &  Co.,  124 

Indenture, 

Contract  under  supervision  of 

state  in  Wisconsin,  232 
Industrial  Economics,  Outline  of 

course  in,  224 
Industrial    University,    Goodyear 

Tire  &  Rubber  Co.,  61 
Initial  Training,  definition,  xvi 
Instructor  training,  25 

Submarine    Boat    Corporation, 

190 
Intensive  training,  25 

United   Shoe    Machinery   Cor- 
poration,  204 

Norton  Co.,  76 

Mergenthaler  Linotype  Co.,  102 

Laboratory  assistants,  Training  of  > 

Western  Electric  Co.,   42 
Linotype  Operators'  School,   101 

Machine  production,  Analysis  of 
four   major   categories  in,   215 
Mergenthaler  Linotype  Co.,  98 
Method  of  study,  xx 

National  Cash  Register  Co.,  Ill 
Night     School,     National     Cash 
Register  Co.,  Ill 


Noon-hour  and  after-work  classes, 
Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Co., 
97 

Norton  Co.,  75 

Packard  Motor  Car  Co.,  70 
Part-time  industrial  school,  defini- 
tion, xvii 

Pratt  &  Whitney  Co.,  129 
Programs  of  Primarily  Technical 

Instruction,  206 

Promotion  training  denned,  xvi, 
274 

Related  subjects  instruction,  xvii 
Rubber  and  automobile  industries, 
Programs  hi  the,  53 

Sales  School,  Truck  Department, 

Packard  Motor  Car  Co.,  74 
Sales  Training,  261 
Salesmen's  School,  Carnegie  Steel 

Co.,  105 

School  for  Engineers  and  Depart- 
ment Heads,  101 
Mergenthaler     Linotype     Co., 

101 
School  on  Company's  Product, 

Sperry  Gyroscope  Co.,  201 
Selling  department, 

Recognition  of  value  of  knowl- 
edge of  raw  materials,  reduc- 
tion to  and  asembling  in 
finished  products  as  training 
for,  260 
Service,  School,  Ford  Motor  Co., 

69 
Shepard  Electric  Crane  &  Hoist 

Co., 

Technical  Night  School,  209 
Size  of   a   plant   to   warrant   its 
organization  as  an  educational 
unit,  291 


310 


INDEX 


Special    half-time    mechanical 

course, 

Norton  Co.,  79 
Special  training, 
definition  of,  xv 

Varieties  of,  Westinghouse  Elec- 
tric &  Manufacturing  Co.,  4 
General  Electric  Co.,  35 
Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Co., 

91 

Special  training  department,  defi- 
nition, xvi 

Special  training  field,  School  sub- 
stitutes in,  279 
Special  training  for  high  school 

graduates, 

Western  Electric  Co.,  41 
Sperry  Gyroscope  Co.,  199 
Student  Engineer  Training, 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Man- 
ufacturing Co.,  15 
Supervisors  of  training,  295 
Supervisory  training,  276 

Three  types  of,  277 
Supplementary    instruction,    defi- 
nition, xvii 

Differentiation  of,  as  to  specific 
and  general  trade  content,  226 

Technical  and  general  instruction 
for  employee  improvement,  281 

Technical    college    graduates, 
Employment  of,  for  experience 
and  adjustment  to  personnel, 
256 

Technical  graduates'  courses, 
Packard  Motor  Car  Co.,  71 

Technical  Institute, 
Ford  Motor  Co.,  68 

Technical  men,   training  of,  245 
on    non-productive    basis,    260 

Technical   instruction   and  prac- 
tice, provision  of  both,  245 


Technical  night  school, 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Man- 
ufacturing Co.,  10 

The  corporation,  249 
Technical  training,    general   con- 
clusions, 262 

Relation  of,  to  trade  apprentice- 
ship, 261 

Trade  teaching  formula,  xvii 
Training  department, 

Organization  of,  2,  293 

Organization  chart  of,  294 

Organization  of  the,  Submarine 

Boat  Corporation,   191 
Training    for    minor    executives, 

Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Co. 

93 
Training,  Intensive  and  part-time, 

xvi 
Training,    Western   Electric   Co., 

of  office  boys,  38 

of  telephone  installers,  45 

of  machine  operators,  46 

of  college  men,  46 
Trade  school,   Ford   Motor   Co., 

65 

United  Shoe  Machinery  Co.,  201 
Upgrading  or  promotion  training 

in  special  shops,  275 
Upgrading  school, 

for  customer's  employees,  Gis- 
holt  Machine  Co.,  194 

for  toolmakers,    Sperry   Gyro- 

.     scope  Co.,  200 
Upgrading  training,  definition,  xvi 

where  applicable,  274 

Vestibule  school,  definition,  xvii 
Conditions  warranting,  271 

Vocational    schools,    public, 
Enrollment  in,  238 


INDEX 


311 


Vocational    schools,     inadequate 

equipment  of,  240 
Dumping  ground  of  less  capable, 
240 

Watervliet  Arsenal,  83 
Western  Electric  Co.,  37 


Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manu- 
facturing Co.,  2 

Westinghouse  Airbrake  Co.,  143 

Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Co., 
89 

Works  School,  Carnegie  Steel  Co., 
106 


VITA 

JOHN  VAN  LIEW  MORRIS. 

Born  at  Lodi,  N.  Y.,  July  14,  1886. 
Graduated  from  Ovid  High  School,  1903, 

and  Palmer  Institute,  1904. 
Attended  Hamilton  College,  1905-1907; 
Harvard  College,  1907-1909; 
Harvard  Graduate  School,  Sept.,  1909-Jan.,  1911; 
Cornell  University,  Summer,  1911; 
Teachers  College,  Columbia  University, 
Summers,  1914,  1915,  1916. 
Academic  years,  1916-1917,  1919-1920; 
University  of  Paris,  March-July,  1919. 
Degrees:  A.B.  Harvard,  1909;  A.M.  Columbia,  1917. 
Teacher  in  Rural  School,  1904-1905. 
Instructor    in   Mathematics    and    Physics,    Simmons 

College,  1909-1910. 
Principal,  Shawinigan  Technical  Institute,  Shawinigan 

Falls,  Quebec,  Jan.,  1911-June,  1916. 
Soldier,  U.  S.  Army,  Sept.,  1917-July,  1919. 
Instructor,  N.  Y.  State  School  for  Trade  Teachers, 

Jan.-April,  1920. 
Publications: 

"Why  Teachers'   Colleges,"   School  and  Society, 

Vol.  X,  p.  522. 
"Colleges  for  Teachers,"  School  and  Society,  Vol. 

XI,  p.  412. 

"  Separateness  of  Vocational  Education  in  Manu- 
facture," Educational  Administration  and 
Supervision,  Vol.  VI,  p.  220. 


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